


Family is more than blood

by deadlyswarm



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: baby frisk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-01-25 03:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 40,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12521568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadlyswarm/pseuds/deadlyswarm
Summary: It was an average day for Alice Warren and her child, Frisk. However things take a turn for the worst when their car is knocked into a river that sends them plummeting into Mt. Ebbot. Will they survive? and if Alice were to perish, who would care for Frisk?  If the stories about monsters are true, how will they react when an injured mother and child fall into their midst?





	1. row row row your boat......

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice warren was taking her infant child, Frisk on a ride. only for the trip to be derailed. an accident caused her car to fall into a river, and straight into Mt. Ebbot. danger lurks in those waters and Alice does what she can to keep her baby alive, even if it means riskeing her life. What would happen if she were to perish? who would be able to care for her child? if the legends are true.....how would the monsters react to an injured mother and her child falling into their world?

It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, birds soared above, and flowers bloomed around the riverbank. Alice Warren was driving down a road that ran by the river, which lead into Mt Ebbott. The trip was to find a good camping location, and plan the reservation. Though Frisk, her child, was only a few months old, the weather was beautiful and the campsite would be close by. Frisk cooed in the back seat grabbing at tiny dangling stars above her seat, and all was well. However, the calm and serene drive would take a drastic turn as a truck began to appear in her rear view mirror. She had thought little of it, instead focusing on the road, nodding to the beat of music from the radio. The music covered the slight screeching of tires as the truck began to swerve. Its speed increased and its movements became more erratic, and then the truck hit the car carrying a mother and child right into the murky rapids.  
Frisk began to wail, startled, but mercifully unharmed, while Alice was not so fortunate. The airbag deployed, causing her to take a moment to gather her bearings, until she felt water begin to seep into the car. Her instincts ran into overdrive, she quickly unfastened her seat belt, thankful that it was undamaged. Alice moved with speed and efficiency, getting Frisk out of her seat, they needed to leave the car before it sunk…...THE RAFT. Alice remembered that Frank, her loving husband, thought to pack it early so they wouldn't forget it! Luckily they had a sunroof big enough that she could fit through and pull Frisk up top, with the raft pulled from its place under Alice’s seat. She pulled the cord and it flopped down, and the car started to sink faster as it took on more water. 

Alice put Frisk on the raft as the car dropped from below her feet. She swam , holding onto the raft, if she tried to get in the raft, it would tip. Though it wouldn't sink, Frisk could easily roll out of it, right into the cold and dark waters below. Ahead she saw a turn that, at this speed, would push the raft against the rocks and possibly pop it. Determined to save her child, she used what strength she had to move herself to the side of the raft that would take the brunt of the damage. Sharp rocks tore at her, as she was battered against the walls, but she would not break. A purple light began to glow around Alice.

*The need to survive and protect your child fills you with PERSEVERANCE.

As the river pushed onwards, Frisk’s cries echoed, as well as grunts of pain from Alice. Yet despite the waters becoming colder, despite being run into wall after wall, Alice held on. Eventually the river had calmed, as the two floated down the stream.

Alice felt her strength draining, it was becoming hard to focus, but then, she heard a voice. It was deep, but who would even be down here?

 **“ what the- …humans? How did…..wait is that a kid? hold on you two i gotcha.”** The mother felt magic wrap around her soul as she and her child were lifted from the river.

“S-So….cold….” 

**“right, i know a shortcut one sec.”** The last thing she saw was a bony hand reach out to her, before plunging into unconsciousness.  
____________________________________________________________________________  
Alphys watched through her cameras as a routine security check. She saw Sans making his way to his waterfall sentry station, when her mic started to pick up strange sounds. Sans had turned and lo and behold, two humans, an infant in the raft and an adult floating behind it. She gasped as she realized that the adult was turning blue from the cold, but thankfully Sans seemed to know what to do, as he vanished and a knock was heard at her door. Alphys quickly opened the door and ushered in Sans and the two humans, she noticed that the child was now wrapped in his jacket, and still crying. 

“S-Sans! Oh my god, what happened?!”

**“ not too sure myself al, but we both know humans can't take extreme conditions like that. the older human is out of it, you should help her, i'll find something to calm the kid down.”**

“R-Right!” She took the human to a nearby bed, gathering extra clothes and towels. After repairing as much of the womans wounds as she could, Alphys then turned her attention to the baby. She had to stop herself from squealing at the sight. Sans sat there rocking the child as it cried.

**“its alright kiddo, you're safe. the names sans, what's yours?”**

The baby sniffled, looking at Sans with her chocolate brown eyes. She wiggled in his grasp, snuggling more in his jacket and closer to him. Slowly the eyes began to shut, and her breathing became relaxed. Sans had gotten the baby to sleep.

“Sans oh my god, t-that was adorable.” a few flecks of blue appeared on sans’ cheekbones.

 **“well, i mean….i had a lotta practice with paps.”** a weak voice came from the bed

“Hah…...Frisk likes you….” Both Sans and Alphys moved to the bed.

“Y-You're awake, oh my god, d-does anywhere else hurt? I did what I could to patch you up. I-Im Alphys, and T-This skeleton monster holding your c-child is Sans..” The mother smiled.

“Thank you…Alphys, and Sans..the legends were true then….”

“L-Legends?”

“ In my family, we were supposedly descended from the wizards who sealed monsters underground, the story was passed down, I was going to tell Frisk one day, hah.” Alice began to cough, putting a hand to her mouth, only to see blood when she pulled it away.

“ T-That makes sense, the wizards sealed us here to p-prevent a genocide…. B-but…...our magic can’t h-help you. Our magic affects the soul and the soul alone. Our f-food can provide nutrition to humans, and heal their souls…..but physical injuries take skill and practice and I could end up doing more harm than good….” The mother smiled at the worrying monster.

“I see…..I have one….last request, if….if I may.” 

“O-Of course.” 

Alice looked to Sans and her baby, and back to Alphys. 

When I pass, you may collect my soul to aid in your freedom, but please…..please don't hurt Frisk. Please let her live, give her a good life.” She looked to the skeleton with pleading eyes

“She already likes you. I must admit, you have a very comforting presence. I know it is a lot to ask of you, but…..I don’t have anyone else to turn to….” 

Sans looked down at the child, now sleeping peacefully in his arms. This kid wasn’t even going to know anything about their own world, and just like the rest of monster kind, she was trapped.

**“ alright, i promise.”**


	2. The end of one life, and a whole new beginning.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which preperations and puns are made.

Chapter 2

Alice passed away not long after Sans made his promise. Alphys contained the soul, which emitted a strong purple glow. She then closed the human’s eyes, and draped a sheet over her. Undyne and Asgore were contacted, and brought up to speed on what had just transpired.

“A-and her last request was….that her baby not be harmed, and instead be given a good life.” both Asgore and Undyne bowed their heads, Undyne was the first to speak.

“So the lady died saving her infant kid? Holy crap….that's really intense.”

**“there’s more, she…..wanted me to be the one to take care of it. and you both know i don’t do promises lightly.”**  
Both Asgore and Undyne nodded, Asgore began to speak “I see, then we shall inform the guard immediately of what has transpired. Sans, Snowdin is too cold for one so young, I would suggest a shortcut directly to your home for now.” He then walked over to Sans and put a large paw on his shoulder. “I for one think you will make an excellent father. From what Undyne has told me, you raised Papyrus yourself, I have the utmost confidence in you.”

Sans nodded **“thanks….alright well, the kiddo is completely tuckered out….i think it’s time to get her home.”** and with that Sans disappeared. Undyne looked to the fallen human

“We should bury her somewhere nice….that's what humans do for funerals right?”Undyne had asked Alphys, who responded by simply nodding. The trio went about their tasks, and Alice was given a grave in waterfall. It laid under the cavern’s sparkling stones, with echo flowers adorning the site, with a plaque that read:

“Here lies Alice Warren, a caring mother. Frisk, should you see this one day, know that your mother loved you dearly.” 

 

Sans’ shortcut took him and the child to the living room. With a Sigh as his feet touched the carpet, he heard Papyrus 

“AH BROTHER, IS THAT YOU? UNDYNE SAID YOU WOULD BE TAKING SOME TIME OFF DUTY FOR SOMETHING IMPORTANT!WHAT IS IT?” Sans chuckled , glad his brother’s naturally loud voice didn’t wake Frisk. He neared the kitchen, with a familiar smell of burning spaghetti wafting through his nasal cavity. 

**“Alright bro, but i need ya to lower your voice, there's…..quite a bit to tell ya.”** Papyrus patiently let Sans talk, noticing that his brother was holding Frisk a little closer. 

**“ and well…..you know how i am with promises bro.”** Papyrus nodded and spoke as quietly as he could, so a normal speaking voice.

“Well Sans I have the utmost belief that you will be the greatest papabones ever, until I myself have a child some day! After all, it was you who cared for me, and I turned out amazing! No less from the brother of the great Papyrus, who shall be the greatest uncle ever!Nyeh heh heh!”

Sans’ tired grin grew **“heh, thanks bro. Oh, could you go by the store for some diapers and baby food? Can’t take the kiddo out in the cold yet, and i don’t really want to leave her just yet.”**

Papyrus’ smiled and nodded, carrying out the very important task. Sans laid Frisk on the floor, making his way to fetch some spare blankets to lay out for her to play on. Just as well, he still had some of Papyrus’ old baby toys to bring as well. Undyne and Asgore brought essentials, a crib that once belonged to Asriel, baby formula, diapers, and different pillows, blankets and toys. Sans was grateful for all of this, but there was someone he needed to see. The ‘old lady’ as he called her, was someone else that he could talk to with little effort, and she had a great sense of humor. It had been a few days, since Frisk and her mom fell, and he had gotten everything set up. He approached the old purple door and knocked.

**“ knock knock.”**

“Who is there?” 

**“nobel”**

“Nobel who?”

**“no-bel is here, so i knocked.”** her laughter rang through the door, a small part of Sans wondered what it would sound like when not muffled by a door. 

“So what kept you my friend? You seem to have been quite busy, did something happen?” Sans let out a sigh 

**“ where do i even start…..”** and once he was done recounting the tale, Sans heard ….crying. 

“Sans that is…...that is a lot to take in. and you say Asgore agreed to leave the child be?”

**“ yeah, though i was more worried about undyne than asgore, and even then she ain’t the type to hurt a freakin’ baby. Paps is ecstatic of course, to have a niece, though….i wasn’t quite expecting kids so soon.”**

“So how is the child now?” 

**“ well, they’re a decent sleeper, she seems to be taking monster food well. I’ve even taken the kid to alphys for a checkup, gonna be doin that regularly for a while to make sure everything is good. Most of it is the same as when i took care of my bro. Glad that our food just turns into nutrition for the kid, man it would suck to have a mess to clean, heh."** To which the door lady only responded with a light laugh.

“Ah, that is good to hear friend, BABY when they’re older you might bring her with you!”

**“ guess it's a goo-d thing i have winter clothes.”** The duo carried on for a few hours, before Sans went to his house, greeted by what he thought was the most precious sight. Papyrus, with a book open in front of him had Frisk cradled in his arms, sleeping peacefully. He spotted Sans and smiled, handing the child to him carefully.

**“ heh, who’da thought that i’d wind up bein a dad…..welp, buckle up kiddo, somethin tells me that we’re both in for a ride.”** Frisk simply nuzzled into the fluff of his jacket in response.   
Time seemed to run smoothly for Sans, which was odd because usually he would have deja vu, but all of that stopped when the kid fell. He had found that he quite liked being a dad, though he wasn’t quite used to having to get up from his naps. Thankfully, Papyrus would sometimes take over to let him rest, god his bro was so cool. Sans decided that by now word would have spread enough that he would risk introducing the kid to his favorite place in the underground, Grillby’s. Once the kiddo was wide awake, he told Papyrus he was heading out, and promptly took a shortcut directly to Grillby’s. The bar was warm and cozy, just as Sans remembered, His resting theme played and everyone turned to him. The K-9 unit was on break, taking their usual seats, though the other usuals weren't in quite yet. From across the bar, Grillby looked up, smiling at Sans and his child. 

 

Dogamy and Ressa sniffed the air, and walked over to Sans.

“Sans! Is this the human we were told about?”  
(They’re adorable) 

**“heh, yeah this is frisk, say hi kiddo.”** In response, Frisk cooed and reached up to pet their faces. She smiled, letting out a little happy shriek at their softness.

Greater Dog leapt out of his armor and bounded towards Sans. He carefully set Frisk on the floor and Greater Dog began to sniff. Frisk brushed her tiny hand over the canine monster’s back and giggled. After all the dogs got their turn getting to know his kid, Sans picked her up and took her to Grillby.

**“ heya grillbz.”** The fire elemental grinned

“Well hello there Sans, so this is the human everyone has been going on about?” As he leaned in for a closer look, Frisk reached her tiny hand out. Grillby lifted a finger for her to grab, and lightly shook her hand.

“A pleasure to meet you small one.” Frisk smiled and cooed, while Sans’ constant smile seemed to grow.

**“yup, poor kid’s been through alot already, but things are lookin good.”** Grillby had a small idea, it was something Sans found cool when he was just a little scamp running around Snowden. He moved his hand to grab Frisk’s attention, and as she stared, green, white, blue, and red puffs of smoke came from his fingers. The child cooed at the sight and reached for the puffs of smoke, attempting to catch them with her tiny hands with little success. Despite this she seemed content.

“She is simply too precious Sans.” 

**“yeah, frisk is really somethin."**


	3. Frisk's progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kids grow up so fast, one day they're in your arms, and before you know it....oh wait...spoilers ;)

Chapter 3

Afew months passed, months of care, and shared naptimes. Papyrus thought Sans was starting to be a bad influence, but at the same time it was often too darn adorable to interrupt. Today Undyne was over with Papyrus chatting with him in the livingroom as Sans laid in front of Frisk, who playing on her blanket with her favorite toys. Sans was a little ways away and the child tilted her head back to see him. With a little grunt she managed to roll herself over, catching Undyne and Papyrus’ eye.

“Oh hey, what are you up to shrimp?” Undyne said with a smile, as she did so, she saw that Frisk was propping herself up on her arms, with her face brimming with determination. Her legs arched and fell, and she flopped back onto the floor.

“You got this Frisk keep at it!”

“YOU ALMOST HAD IT! GOOD JOB FRISK!” Frisk slammed her hand down, looking more determined than before. Once more, she propped herself up, and this time, she got her legs to bend under her and into a crawling position. A look of elation spread across her face as she put one hand forward, a knee forward, crap wrong knee. Frisk fell back to the ground, this time, she let out a small wail of frustration. 

“C’mon punk you can do it!”

**“come on over kiddo, you got this.”** Sans said as he continued to lay on the floor. Once more Frisk got into her crawling position, and started to move forward. With each successful move forward, she started moving faster, giggling wildly as she neared her father.

 

“That's it! You’ve almost got him!”

“EXCELLENTLY DONE FRISK, NYEH HEH HEH!” The child crawled to Sans, grinning at his face.

**“well hey there, howsit goin?”** To which Frisk raised her hands and proceeded to pull herself on top of his ribcage and began to babble excitedly. Sans chuckled lightly before looking over to Papyrus and Undyne.

**“welp, looks like i'm not going anywhere any time soon.”**

“Alright fine, but only because this is too adorable.” Undyne muttered, Later on she was definitely going to tell Alphys all about it. But for now, Papyrus and Undyne went outside and into waterfall to spar, letting Sans and the kid eventually fall asleep .

 

Papyrus made sure to baby proof the entire house. Since Frisk was now able to move almost freely, she could get hurt! Asgore and Undyne helped set up proper precautions, though the effort was mostly lead by Asgore, as he had done all of this once before. However none of them expected to find that, before they safety-blocked the stairs, Frisk had crawled up it and into Sans’ room and found a fun ride. It was when they heard giggling and laughing upstairs that they began to investigate, to find that Frisk had taken a joy ride in Sans’ thankfully empty trash tornado. The small child laughed with glee as she spun around, causing Sans to shake his head.  
**“ havin a fun time kiddo?”** Frisk responded with an excited squeal and reached out to Sans.

**“ alright, let's get’cha outta there.”** Sans said as he plucked his kid from the mini tornado. Frisk was in his arms, spinning her head around and giggling. Sans exited his room and made his way downstairs, making sure to inform Asgore that they need to put something up around the trash tornado as well. 

During night time, Sans found himself or Papyrus up for most of it caring for Frisk whenever she started to get hungry. But what surprised Papyrus the most was that often times, by the time he got up, Sans was already there with a bottle in hand. Some of these times, Papyrus would actually insist that Sans get some rest while he takes care of Frisk, if only so that Sans wouldn’t potentially force himself to stay up all hours of the night.  
__________________________________________________________________________  
Often times Sans would take Frisk with him on trips to Grillby’s and let her play with the dogs. Now that she had been crawling for quite a while now greater dog had started getting out of his armor and began to let frisk use him to hold herself up on her feet and cruse. Together they both moved slowly around the bar, receiving greetings from the other dogs. He had been spending a little less time going to the old ruins door, but when he did, he usually had quite the tale. The old lady seemed to enjoy it when Sans talked about his kid, just as much, if not more than when he was cracking jokes. 

Sans took his daughter to another checkup with Dr. Alphys, the small child smiling and holding her arms out to the familiar yellow monster, Babbling excitedly.

“O-Oh! Y-you want me to hold you?”

**“ go for it al, she don’t bite.”** Alphys took Frisk into her arms and smiled.

“A-Are you ready for your check up? “ Frisk only responded with a smile, reaching her hand out touching the side of Alphys’ face, still babbling in the most adorable fashion.

“Alright then, l-lets begin then shall we?” While Alphys was running the usual tests, she began to speak with Sans.

“S-So I may have figured out something. Once F-Frisk started crawling, that would mean she was anywhere from s-six to ten months, and sh-shes been doing t-that for a little while, almost a full month!. A-and while Frisk C-Could start learning how to walk soon, she may only m-master it at around the 16-17 month mark. B-By my estimate, Frisk has about 4 or so months until their f-first birthday, so it seems that monster and human babies are f-fairly similar in that regard.”

Sans nodded as Frisk yawned in Alphys’ grasp, snuggling into her lab coat. Alphys handed Frisk over to Sans and with a poof, they were back in their home. After a few more months, Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, And Asgore gave frisk her first birthday party, and all cheered for many more to come. And of course they had to replace the table because Undyne suplexed Papyrus through it in her excitement. Nobody was surprised.

As the house emptied of guests, Frisk crawled to her father, holding her hands up to be carried. Sans obliged and Frisk patted Sans’ cheek bones.  
“Da….da...daddy! Daddy daddy!” Sans’ eye lights turned to stars for a moment, and Papyrus had just walked into the room.

“SANS COULD YOU-.....BROTHER? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” Papyrus’ voice brought Sans back down to earth, his smile wider than Papyrus had seen in a long time.

**“y-yeah bro…...heh, listen to this. who's right here kiddo?”** Frisk smiled, patting her father's face  
“Daddy!” Papyrus was ecstatic “OH MY GOD! HER FIRST WORD! AMAZING! DO YOU THINK SHE’LL LEARN HOW TO SAY MINE NEXT?!” causing Frisk to look over and hold out her hand to Papyrus.

“Pa….pap….y….Pappy! Pappy!” Frisk said with a smile, earning a shocked gasp from Papyrus.

“OH MY GOD THEY CALLED ME PAPPY! THIS IS THE GREATEST DAY EVER!” and Sans couldn't agree more. Frisk spent most of that day repeating those words.

 

After a month had passed, Frisk began her solo attempts to walk. These attempts often consisted of her plopping down before she could stand, or her falling onto her butt. Papyrus and Sans offered encouragement as the child became more and more determined to walk. She got up on her feet, and took a step, and then another, and another. She had begun laughing in triumph as she made her way to Sans, only to lose her balance and fall on her butt again. She let out a frustrated wail and slammed her hand on the ground. However, Frisk was not done yet, she got herself up again, and finally managed to walk all the way to Sans with a pleased grin on her face.

“Daddy! Pappy! Didit!” Sans was beaming at his daughter 

“you did! nice work kiddo!” and once more, Papyrus had not heard Sans have that kind of energy in his voice for quite some time.

“AMAZING WORK FRISK! NYEH HEH HEH!”

“Nyah hah hah!” Frisk laughed, throwing her arms up into the air.

And if one had listened close enough, one might have sworn Sans uttered a muffled **“mweh heh heh.”**


	4. Puzzles and Puns

As the next couple of years passed, Frisk would come to learn many names.

“Gillby!”

“Frisk I am not a fish.”

“Fishby! Hehehe” and then Frisk shook her head

“Grillby! Fry?” Grillby smiled and handed Frisk a french fry. 

"Thank you!" it soon became the dogs turn. 

“Amy! Ressa! Good doggies!”

“Good job little pup!”  
( they grow up so fast.)

“ Doggo!” Frisk shouted wiggling so he could see her “Hi!”

“Lesser doggie, greater doggie!” 

“Auntie Alphy!” 

“A-Auntie? W-well i-i mean….” Sans chuckled

**“looks like the kiddo already made up her mind, may as well accept it al, you’re now an aunt”** he said with a wink

Some days she would be babysat by Papyrus while Sans went to visit the Ruins door, planning on bringing Frisk here once he gets a few more things for her winter clothing. In the meantime, he would teach her some jokes. Bone jokes came first, as each pun was made, Sans would point at the bone he was referring to. In response, Frisk would point and repeat what he said. She was proving to be a bright kid, learning more and more by the minute. Once Frisk had reached the age of five, she was ready to meet the door lady.

**“hey lady, you here? got someone for ya to meet.”** Toriel’s voice came from behind

“Oh my, who might that be?” Frisk stepped up to the door and knocked.

“Umm, knock knock!” 

“ Oh! Who is there?”

“Dishes!”  
“Dishes who?”

“Dishes a very bad joke!” They couldn't see, but they could hear Toriel laughing harder than she had before.

“Oh my, that was quite good young one!”

“Thank you! Daddy taught it to me!” 

“Well your father is an excellent role model!”

**“heh, thanks.”** A light blue blush appeared on his cheekbones.

“Little one, would you like to hear a joke?” 

“Yeah!” Frisk replied excitedly.

“ How do you make a tissue dance?”

“How?”

“You put a little….BOOGIE into it!” The woods echoed with both Frisk and Sans’ laughter.

“Daddy taught me some bone puns….he says they're quite humorous, and uh...what was it….oh yeah! Tibia honest he wasn't telling a….a FIBula!”

After laughing and snorting Toriel found her voice.

“Oh my,good job Frisk! You are a good learner, and your dad seems to be an excellent teacher.”

**“ what can i say lady, it’s….in our bones!”**

After some more jokes, they eventually took a shortcut back home and Frisk looked up to Sans.

“The door lady is really nice daddy. Will we get to see her again?”

**“ oh we absolutely will kiddo.”**

“But…..why does she stay behind the door? “ 

**“ well, maybe she just likes it that way. i'm not sure.”**

“Oh.” Eventually Papyrus entered the house, returning from his training with Undyne.

“FRISK, SANS, THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS ARRIVED!” Causing Frisk to shout

“Uncle Pappy!” as she ran to him with her arms outstretched. Papyrus quickly scooped frisk up in a hug.

“HELLO TINY HUMAN! HOW ARE YOU TODAY?”

“Good! Daddy took me to see the door lady, shes really funny.”

“OH REALLY?” Papyrus said as he put Frisk back on the floor.

“Hey Pappy, how do you make a tissue dance?”

“FRISK….” 

“ You put a little…..BOOGIE into it!” Frisk shouted, adding a little wiggle dance for extra effect. Sans was rolling on the floor holding his ‘stomach’ from laughing so hard, whilst Papyrus made a pair of bulging eyes. Frisk found both of these reactions funny and awsome.

“OH MY GOD! SAAAAANS STOP BEING SUCH A BAD INFLUENCE!”

“More like a DAD influence.”

**“nice one kiddo, heh heh.”** As Papyrus lamented the joke, Frisk tugged on his scarf.

“Uncle Pappy, could we do the puzzles you made? They look really fun!” Papyrus paused in thought.

“WELL, ONE AS YOUNG AS YOU MIGHT FIND SOME AREAS MORE DANGEROUS, HOWEVER SO LONG AS SANS AND I ARE WITH YOU IT SHOULD BE NO PROBLEM! RIGHT SANS?”

“ sounds like ‘snow’ problem to me bro.” causing Frisk to giggle and another groan from Papyrus. Both skeletons felt the electric maze would be a bit too painful, so they decided to skip that particular puzzle. In the next room there was the snow golf game.

**“Wanna try that out kiddo?you gotta get the snowball through the course and into the hole, its not a puzzle, just a fun game people made.”**

“Oh I wanna try!”

“HAVE AT IT FRISK!” Frisk spent quite some time on the game, sometimes it would disappear, or she would get a purple or light blue flag. Eventually she became bored and they both proceeded to the next puzzle. They stopped in the next room and Sans spoke

**“Well, i was gonna put a sheet of crossword and a sheet of junior jumble out for ya, but why would we want to do that in the cold? got’em set up for a lazy day.”**

“SANS, ISN’T IT ALMOST ALWAYS LAZY DAY WITH YOU?” 

**“what can i say bro, im a natural.”**

“Guess that makes him a real LAZYBONES, huh Pappy?”

“NYEH HEH HEH! QUITE CORRECT FRISK! WAIT…...OH MY GOD THAT'S A PUN! SANS WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!” Frisk and Sans laughed at Papyrus’ over reaction. As they made their way to the next puzzle, they ran into the dog squad getting ready to start their rounds. The trio made sure to stop and say hello, and assure them that they were indeed very good dogs. One thing Frisk did find strange is that sometimes she would see what she could almost swear to be the same yellow flower appearing somewhere in each room they went. She elected not to say anything, as this puzzle spree was fun. The three of them made their way to the first x’s and o’s puzzle. 

“THIS ONE IS JUST TO SHOW YOU THE ROPES! JUST TURN THE X’S INTO O’S, BUT DON’T STEP ON THEM MORE THAN ONCE OR THEY WILL BECOME TRIANGLES INSTEAD! TRIANGLES DO NOTHING AND YOU CAN RESTART IT BY STEPPING ON THE SWITCH!” Frisk looked at the two x’s and did what she needed to solve them.

“EXCELLENT! WE CAN NOW PROCEED! HOWEVER…..THE SOLUTION TO THE NEXT PUZZLE IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT, I HAD TRIED TO MAKE IT LOOK MORE LIKE MY FACE. THEN ALL THE SNOW FROZE AND NOW THE SOLUTION CHANGED.” Frisk had a determined look on her face as she studied the puzzle area. There were a few ways she could go in, so she decided to try something. She stood on one entrance, tracing a path with her finger. She would shake her head occasionally and start over. After several mental attempts, Frisk chose her path and succeeded in solving the puzzle.

**“n-ICE job kiddo.”**

“CLEVER WORK MY FANTASTIC NIECE!” 

As they made their way to another puzzle, they passed by a small armless monster child. The monster kid looked over at Frisk and smiled.

“Yo! Are you that human my parents told me about?” 

“Um yeah...i'm Frisk, Hi! What’s your name?”

“Im Monster Kid, though i usually just go by MK. Yo, wanna play with me? There's this icy patch that's really slippery and a fun place for tag!

Frisk looked to her father and asked “Can I daddy?”

**“ sure kiddo, just be careful, we’ll just keep watch over here if you need us.”** Sans replied

“YAY! Ok Mk where’s the patch?” And with that the two children ran off, sliding over ice patches trying to maintain balance. They stumbled, fell around a bit, but their laughter rang out. On another run, they both were able to stay upright, and next Frisk was being pulled along via MK’s tail. He grinned and turned, throwing Frisk into a snow poff. She got up laughing.

“Heeeey MK!!!! I’ll get you for that!” She yelled grabbing a fistful of snow and threw it, landing a direct headshot.

“Yo, nice shot!” Sans smiled as Frisk and the monster child played, looks like his kid has a new friend.

Flowey observed from a distance. Ever since that little brat fell down here, he lost his ability to save and reset! He wanted nothing more than to take that little idiot’s soul, but it’s likely that THEY now have his ability, which would do him no good. Oh well, perhaps he just needs to see how this plays out.


	5. Frisk's first day at school

After having fun around Snowden, Sans helped Frisk prepare for her first day of school. Alphys provided a small phone that only had his and Papyrus’ number. Papyrus made sure to find out and obtain everything Frisk would need for a perfect first day, including a new home made winter coat that looked like a pink and blue version of Sans’ coat, and a matching scarf. The school was a little ways off from snowden town, but that was no problem for Sans. Once he and his child arrived at the school,Sans held Frisk’s hand as they walked to the classroom. Sans playfully ruffled her hair.

 **“alright kiddo, here’s your stop.”** He said as he knelt down to Frisk’s level and gave her a hug.

“Love you daddy!”

 **“love you too babybones, now go show those teachers what you got.”** and with that Frisk grinned and entered the room. Now that Frisk was in school, Sans went about his time lazing about whilst Papyrus prepared Frisk’s new bedroom after a long time of trying to keep her away from the area. 

Frisk walked up to a desk and sat down, answered roll call, all in all the day went well. That is until a few older monster children walked up to Frisk during recess.

“Hey Freak!” a snowdrake had yelled Frisk turned around

“Why would you call me that? That's...not very nice.” the snowdrake laughed.

“Duh that's the point.” an icecap stepped forward.

“Yeah! You’re not a monster, you’re one of those humans! You don't belong here!” The child then spit at Frisk, causing her to back up , face wrinkling with disgust.

“Ew what the heck? What did I do?” The snowdrake pulled his mouth into a snarl

“Everyone knows that humans are evil! They kill monsters just for fun! I bet you’re just biiiiding your time.” Frisk was near tears.

“I am not evil.”

“Oh what are you gonna cry now? Hah, hey Snowdrake let's teach this human a lesson” Icecap jeered. 

“Yeah, let's!” The monsters shot ice magic, hitting frisk and taking some of thier hp. It hurt. Frisk backed away crying.

“S-Stop it! That really hurt!” 

“Oh yeah? There's more where that came from you evil human!” Snowdrake said as he and icecap made a small volley of magic bullets. Frisk booked it, the kids chased after her all the way across the Snowden area. They continued to chase Frisk as she moved past the puzzles and past her dad’s guard station, she was close to the door! She could hear the kids yelling and cackling, continuing the chase as they knew this path was a dead end. Frisk continued to run towards the door, dodging stray bullets that flew past her , shot from afar. Frisk began to bang on the door as hard as she could.

“Door lady! Door lady! I need help, let me in, please!” She hoped that the door lady was acutally there, and was relieved when she heard a gasp.

“Frisk? You are supposed to be at school, why are you all the way out here?” The sounds of the bullies got closer.

“S-Some kids, they started attacking me! They keep calling me an evil human and they want to hurt me!” Frisk needed to utter no more words as the door opened and she was pulled inside by a warm, fur covered hand. The door shut behind her as Frisk beheld the sight of the door lady. She was a tall goat like monster, like king Asgore. Toriel knelt to Frisk’s level.

“Are you hurt my child?” 

“T-Th ey hit me with magic attacks….it really hurt…” 

“I see, I can make you feel a little better.” as she said this, green magic surrounded her hands, and Frisk felt the pain subside.

“Wooooah, what magic was that?”

“Green magic my child, now let us go upstairs, I have some left over pie that i simply could not eat by myself! Tell me, do you prefer cinnamon or butterscotch?” Frisk thought for a minute

“Hmmmmm, butterscotch, but cinnamon is nice too!”

“I see, then you may enjoy this little snack.” Toriel led Frisk up the stairs and into the living room, inviting them to have a seat. Frisk nodded and crawled into Toriel’s reading chair, it was comfy and a little bouncy. It took some restraint to stop from bouncing herself up and down on it. Toriel came out with a warm slice of pie and a fork.

“Here you are my child.” 

“Thank you.” Frisk took a bite and suddenly warmth and comfort flooded her senses. It was like being wrapped in her safety blanket at home.

“Wow, your food is different from uncle Pappy’s or Daddy’s.”

“How so?” Toriel inquired  
“Well, uncle Pappy’s food always wakes me up, but for some reason whenever Daddy makes food, even if it's the same thing Pappy made, it felt different. I started to get sleepy and relaxed. Yours is like….a warm hug?” Toriel smiled 

“Ah yes. When monsters make food, some of their magic goes into it. Your father is indeed very relaxed so when he makes food, some of that rubs off on the food as well.”

“Oh, thats neat! Um ,so what’s your name? It's not actually door lady is it?” Toriel let out a soft laugh.

“Oh my, how rude of me! My name is Toriel, though you can call me Tori if you wish.” Frisk had immediately thought of a joke.

“Hmmm, i guess that made your Identity a miss-tori!” Toriel held her stomach as she laughed, this child truly had a gift.

“That was a beautiful joke my child! Im sure your father would be proud!”

“Hehehe thank you!” 

“And speaking of your father do you perhaps have his number? I am certain the school has called about you disappearing and may be worried.” Frisk nodded and pulled out her phone. The way Alphys designed it, all she had to do was hit one button, and it called Sans. After a couple of rings, he picked up. 

**“kiddo? Whats goin on? The teachers said you disappeared from school, where are you?”** Frisk really did not like the worry that was in her dad’s voice. 

:”Some mean monster kids attacked me, calling me an evil human...they used magic and it really hurt. I-I just wanted to get away from them but they kept chasing me! So I went over to the Ruins and the lady here let me in! Oh! And her name is Toriel!”

Sans was reeling from what Frisk told him, however he recovered and teleported to the door and spoke again.

 **“alright kiddo, im outside the door, could uh, toriel let me in?”** Toriel did in fact hear this and went to bring him inside. As the two walked through the hall they began to chat.

 **“heh, well this is certainly a way to meet face to face, the name’s sans by the way.”** The goat monster smiled

“It is indeed quite a start, your child is certainly well mannered! They even made their own pun!” Sans’ eyes turned into stars, and Toriel had to hold back her reaction to the site. It was simply wonderful to see.

 **“wait what? Oh man i gotta hear this, heh, looks like it's time to catch a flight, eh tori?”** he wasn’t too sure why he said that, but either she would correct him or he could roll with it.

“It would seem so!” she replied with a small chuckle “ We really should take the flight STEP by STEP, yes?” 

**“pffffff nice one.”** Sans and Toriel Reached the top of the stairs and made their way into the living room. Upon seeing her dad, Frisk put down the plate and ran to him, hugging him tightly.

“Daddy!” Sans wrapped his arms around her

**“hey there kiddo, you still hurt?”**

“No, Tori healed me with green magic! It was really cool, and then she let me have some pie while I called you.”

 **“well that ways very ‘sweet’ of her eh?”** Frisk giggled.

 **“she also tells me you came up with a pun all by yourself, what was it?”** Sans said looking at his child with his grin a little wider. Frisk’s eyes widened as she remembered her joke.

“Oh! Well miss Toriel said that it was okay to call her Tori, so I said that her identity must have been a miss-tori!” Sans’ eyes turned into stars as he laughed.

 **“k-kid, that was amazing oh my god. i’m so proud!”** Frisk laughed along with her father and Toriel had wished she still had a camera. Once they were done laughing, Sans spoke

 **“a’ight, i think now’s a good time to head home. gonna be sure to pay the school and the kids parents a visit too.”** As he said this he had turned from Frisk to Toriel’s direction, she noticed that the lights in his eyes were gone as he mentioned that. The eye lights blinked back into existence as he looked back to Toriel. 

**“oh and uh, would it be cool to stop by and visit? since we kinda wound up meeting face to face anyway?”** Toriel smiled.

“Well, you and Frisk are certainly welcome here, though I doubt I will be heading outside of the Ruins any time soon. Oh! And should you need to, I would not mind babysitting them now and then! There are a few good places for children to play here as well, and none of the monsters will be of any threat to the child.” 

Sans shrugged **“ sounds good to me, whaddya think kiddo?”**

Frisk huffed “That sounds fun, but im not a baby!” Toriel laughed once more as Sans ruffled Frisk’s hair with a grin. 

**“well you’re always gonna be my lil babybones kid, that's just how it is.”** Frisk performed her best, most Papyrus-ish sigh with a smile, and bid goodbye to Toriel, wondering when they might start seeing more of the ruins.


	6. Thanksgiving special!

Sans had a good quality talk with the parents, however only so much could be done. Some students still gave Frisk mean looks. It didn’t help that some adults did the same,they just tried to hide it better. At some point he needed to have a chat with Undyne about the possibility of her paying the school a visit. However his thoughts were interrupted by Alphys calling him.

**“ ‘sup al, howsit goin?”**

“H-Hi Sans, um...good, d-do you have a moment to swing by the lab, t-there's something kinda neat that i think you should hear about.” Sans agreed and popped over to the lab, where Alphys showed him a waterlogged magazine with something called ‘thanksgiving’ written on it. She had said that it had peaked her curiosity and so she took it to the lab to restore what she could. From what she could gather, it was a holiday celebrated in the country that they were in, and it came from Frisk’s world. It was a holiday where families gathered for large meals, and give thanks for what they have. There were several traditions listed, such as different kinds of food that was typically eaten, with the primary focus being turkey. 

“A-And I think that w-we should give this holiday thing a try, that way if….when we get out of here Frisk won’t be as separated from the world she came from.” Sans smiled

**“ that sounds like a great idea. So all of us, undyne, asgore, you, and paps and i, she’ll get a kick out of it.”**

“O-Oh and you could get that lady you and Frisk visit to come too, and maybe introduce us t-to your new friend? U-Unless she really wants her privacy, I mean i know how that is….” Alphys started to sweat. However she noticed something else, as he started to speak, a few small flecks of blue appeared on his cheekbones…...no way.

 **“ well she does kinda prefer her privacy, but i can see if i can’t get her to swing by”** Sans said with a wink.

Of course, it would take time and planning to get their schedules lined up right, but during this time, Sans made sure to speak with Toriel. He knew that she had no desire to speak to or even see Asgore, and yet Frisk would love having the both of them there. However , her business was very much her own. He decided just to bring it up gently, and if she ultimately said no, it would be the end of it. While Frisk was at school, Sans met with Toriel inside the Ruins.   
Toriel beamed when Sans described their plan to re-create a holiday for Frisk.

“Oh my that is simply wonderful!” Sans shrugged.

**“well, i mean, everyone’s gonna be there of course, undyne, alphys and uh….asgore. so i mean if you don't want to come i get it. we could either call you over when he heads out, or hang out here a little bit after the whole thing.”**

Toriel thought on this. She had little desire to see Asgore. All her begging and pleading for him to see reason, only to see him and so many others turn to willingly harming children. This was the reason she stayed in the Ruins, for she could not bear to see what the people had become. However, this no longer seemed to be the case. This child was clearly loved by many people and deserved a time to be surrounded by all of them. All that sealing herself away had accomplished was to delay the inevitable, and let her own bitterness fester. How could she not, should she have instead watched as the man she married slowly faded away and become replaced with the very thing humans were afraid of? But at the same time, how long has she been cooped up in the ruins, and what good has it done her? Seeing the child happy surrounded by people who love her…..that may be worth braving the world once more.

“I….I think I will. Though I would ask that you inform Asgore, as to avoid shock when I arrive.” Sans nodded and went to begin the prep, and boy was it a doozy. When Toriel came to Sans’ home and he let her in, she saw Frisk being chased by Papyrus and Undyne, with the child giggling wildly. The trio stopped when they saw her, Undyne muttering

“No way….” under her breath.

“AH HELLO YOUR MAJESTY….WAIT DID YOU SHAVE?” Toriel laughed 

“Oh no, I am-” 

“Miss Tori! You’re here!” Frisk cried as she ran to give Toriel a hug. 

“Ah greetings my child, it appears you are having quite the ball.” Frisk nodded and Toriel turned her attention back to Papyrus and Undyne.

“I am Toriel, and You must be Papyrus! Your brother has told me much about you!” 

“OH REALLY? WELL THERE IS MUCH FOR HIM TO TELL! HE HAS ONLY TOLD ME YOU WERE A GOOD FRIEND WHO WANTED TO MAINTAIN SOME PRIVACY.”

“Yes, for a time that was true, but i hear we are doing something special and thought that I would like to help, if that is okay.” 

“OF COURSE! THE MORE THE MERRIER! RIGHT UNDYNE?” Papyrus said, turning to her. Undyne looked at the former queen, rage beginning to bubble up. How dare she leave everyone when they were hurting the most? How dare she leave Asgore to pick up all the pieces…..and yet she looked at Frisk and that rage faded. She did not need to see her aunt tearing into someone she saw as a friend. That conversation will have to happen later. So instead she put on a smile

“Yeah! So can you cook?” 

“Oh yes, but Sans told me you two are excellent chefs!” at this Frisk eyed Sans and had to stop herself from laughing. She knew that miss Tori was gonna come out of that kitchen covered in pasta sauce in a matter of minutes.

 

“Darn right we are!”

“NONE CAN MATCH THE CULINARY PROWESS OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” 

An hour later Toriel watched as somehow Papyrus and Undyne set a pot of water ablaze. 

“Oh my…”

The group decided to wait a few days so they could get things together for the feast. During this time, Toriel was preparing in the Ruins when she heard a loud knock on the door. She went to open it to find Undyne on the other side.

“Ah hello Undyne, do come in.”

“Yeah….thanks.” Something seemed off about Undyne, but Toriel couldn't quite place what. The fish woman was shaking.

“Look, i came here because boy do I have words for you, but i didn’t need the punk to see that. You know Asgore told me a lot about you? He raised me for the most part, trained me, and I became head of the royal guard. In that time I learned a lot of things. So i have a few questions.” Anger filled her voice, and from what she had said, Toriel had a feeling what those questions would be.

“Why did you up and leave? You didn’t just move out on him, you VANISHED. After…..all that happened he loses you too? And do you have any idea what that did to the moral of all the people you left behind?! Do you even care?” Toriel’s face went stern.

“I shall answer them with this. You know what happened to Asriel and Chara…..do you honestly think i wanted to see MORE dead children? All the begging and pleading I did with that man to stop and think because that isn’t what Asriel would have wanted him to become at all! Do you think i enjoyed seeing my once husband looming over the broken corpse of a CHILD?” Undyne winced. 

“That may be a good reason, but that doesn't mean what you did didn’t have negative consequences. You didn’t have to seal yourself away. I won’t say you should have stayed because hell I can’t imagine what you two were going through, but….you didn’t have to outright abandon everyone. Did you know that once you left, more monsters started to fall down, even though we had a human soul?” Toriel looked shocked 

“I’ll take that as a no. When that happened, Asgore was fully trapped in his choice. If he had quit when he wanted to, he was afraid that would dash away what hopes the people had left. He hates himself for it, but he feels like he has no choice in the matter, and the last thing he needs is you dragging him in the dirt even more. If you decide to talk to him, you should know that like you, he’s been through hell.” Toriel took a moment to allow the words to sink in. Undyne did have a point, what she did was not the best way to handle things, and she stayed hidden out of repulsion for those who had looked up to her. 

“You are correct. The way I handled things was not the best choice… it is clear that neither Asgore nor myself were capable of making a better one. However what is done, is done. Four of the children he killed were ones that I had cared for, ones that I sought to protect, only for them to leave and be taken from this world by the man I once thought would never be capable of such horrific acts. That….I do not think I can so easily forgive.” Undyne sighed

“Look, when you put it like that, I get it. If someone had tried to kill Frisk, I’d be furious. She ain’t even my kid and i’d protect her with my life, just as much as any other monster down here. I won’t say you have to forgive him, because honestly no you don’t. He did something bad that hurt you and you left. That, I do actually understand.” Toriel nodded 

“Thank you, though I will take what you said to heart.” Undyne held out her hand for a handshake and grinned. Toriel accepted and between them, an underlying respect for one another formed. Toriel may not have wanted to hear her own faults…..but she needed to. Sans, being as kind as he is, never would have pressed that far, nor would Asgore.

While Toriel dealt with Undyne, Sans made sure to forewarn Asgore that Toriel would in fact be coming. He seems happy, but in reality he knew full well that she would still be angry with him.

 

Thank god Toriel had agreed to help with the cooking. Undyne tried to make a turkey via deep fryer, burning down her house for the thousandth time. Aside from flames, the walls were also adorned with various sauces and splotches of flour. The skeleton brother’s only fared somewhat better, with Frisk and Papyrus cooking. As Frisk stirred things and mixed, she began humming bonetroussle which made Papyrus’ day. A knock was heard at the door, and when Sans opened the door with his magic, Toriel stood there.

“Greetings Sans! Where are Frisk and Papyrus?” but just as she said it a huge CLANG rang in the kitchen. Toriel and sans looked and began to laugh. Frisk was covered in pasta noodles, flour, and sauce, giggling hysterically. 

“Ngaaaaah!” 

“FRISK THAT WAS A GOOD UNDYNE IMPRESSION! BUT WE SHOULD GET YOU CLEANED UP, OH HELLO THERE!” Papyrus said as he noticed Toriel. Frisk hopped down from her stool and an up to her.

“Miss Tori! I'm getting to help Pappy cook!” Toriel smiled 

“Well i can see that! Though it appears most of the meal is all over you!” Frisk laughed as Sans took the child up to get washed.

 

Eventually everyone gathered bringing various food items such as ramen, Spaghetti, Turkey made by Toriel, and several sides provided by Asgore. When Frisk was brought inside she gasped, seeing all of her friends and family in one spot. Papyrus however was noticing something else. Throughout the whole thing, Sans could hardly take his eyes off of Toriel. Their puns were insufferable, but…..Toriel was doing the exact same thing with Sans. it was strange, almost as if…..could his brother be falling in love? 

“Wow so that's what all the cooking was for? What’s going on?” Alphys walked over

“W-Well we learned about this thing that some humans too around t-this time of year. They like to gather with their family and friends for huge meals for some quality family time! We thought that we would t-try the holiday out.” Frisk was beaming 

“Really? That's so cool!” Toriel came out of the kitchen, announcing that everything was set up. As they ate Undyne would talk about her day, Papyrus would talk of various puzzles he made and Sans cracked several puns. Toriel found herself constantly laughing. Whether it was Sans’ puns, or Undyne and Papyrus’ antics, and especially if those antics involved them playing with Frisk. She watched as everyone began to become overtaken by a food coma. Undyne and Alphys fell asleep on the floor side by side, with the T.V still on. Asgore fell asleep in a rocking chair the brothers had gotten. The skeleton brothers happened to be passed out next to her on the couch. Frisk was propped up on Sans’ sternum, her head rising and falling with Sans’ breaths. She seemed to snuggle into the fluff of Sans jacket as the two slept. Sans of course, was propped up against a sleeping Papyrus. As Toriel looked around her she realized something.

She missed having moments like these. Back before everything went to hell in a hand basket. She, the children, and Asgore would do similar things often…..she never would have thought before now that she could ever feel that level of happiness and joy again. But looking around the room, Frisk was surrounded by everything a child needs to live a good life, and she was honored to be a part of that. As she pondered these feelings, she too began to nod off, leaving not a single soul awake in the house.


	7. Family visits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so i kinda broke my rule for the thanksgiving chapter, and uploaded it before this one was done XD

As Frisk was now old enough, Sans had to go back to working as a sentry, which meant that Frisk on some occasions would need babysitting, and there was no shortage of volunteers.

Sometimes Frisk and Papyrus would simply be at home, watching Mettaton’s show. Frisk enjoyed the over the top acting, and Papyrus’ reactions. Sometimes Undyne would take Frisk to her place. Frisk loved to hear her play the piano and even wanted to learn how to play a few of their themes. Undyne decided to be her tutor, with some success! During one of those visits, Undyne took Frisk on a tour through Waterfall. One of the first places she took Frisk was Gerson’s shop Frisk was a little nervous to be meeting someone new, but that quickly melted away as Gerson told a few funny stories. Undyne took Frisk by a strange statue that was being constantly rained on.

“Oh yeah, this is part of a puzzle i made, hey how about you try to figure it out punk?” Undyne said as Frisk looked at the statue.

“Oh okay! I thought you didn’t like puzzles?”

“Eeeeh i have an occasional one.” 

“Hm….the statue looks sad, there's a bucket of umbrellas nearby right?” Undyne nodded as Frisk ran off and grabbed one of the umbrellas. As she placed it over the statue, music began to play. It was a nice tune and Frisk smiled.

“That's a pretty song.”

“Yeah it is pretty cool. But the puzzle ain’t over yet punk! Over by the room shyren hangs out in, there's a piano that you gotta play this song on to open it!” Frisk smiled 

“That means i get to practice piano stuff too, that's really cool!” Frisk then proceeded to rush over to the piano and test out a few keys, until eventually she came across the right way to play the tune. The nearby wall opened and a red ball sat inside.

“Nice job punk! Now go get the prize!” Frisk tried to put the item in her inventory, but…...she was carrying too many dogs? For some reason the same small white dog Frisk usually saw pestering Papyrus was sleeping soundly in her inventory space. As she deployed the dog, it woke and absorbed the artifact.

“Aww.” 

“Gah now we’re gonna have to find another artifact, oh well, nice job solving it anyway! Papyrus taught you well!” Frisk grinned, taking a little pride in that fact. The next room the two of them went was the raining rooms, in which they splashed in puddles to their heart's content, laughing all the while.

“Make sure you splash in these puddles a thousand times! C’mon we gotta hit triple digits!” They splashed each other, and eventually headed back to Undyne’s house. Frisk looked at the piano and decided to ask Undyne something.

“Hey auntie, do you think you can teach me how to play dad’s theme on the piano?” Undyne grinned

“Oh my god, punk that’s adorable. HECK YEAH I CAN TEACH YOU! I just have to make sure I can play it by ear first, and then, you’ll be able to blow his mind with your piano skills!” Sans’ theme was like himself, simplistic, and relaxed. It was a rather nice tune to hear in Grillby’s, and Undyne began to play the theme. She stopped and redid some parts for mistakes, and eventually she began to show Frisk the same. She started off slow, only hitting one note at a time, and after several more visits, she got faster at it until it became ‘sans.’ As she completed the tune Frisk smiled.

“Undyne I did it!”

“Heck yeah you did! Nice work, your dad’s gonna flip when he hears this! Speaking of Sans, im almost certain he's taking another break again, maybe i’ll call him over so you can give him a performance.” Frisk nodded eagerly as her aunt began to call Sans. after some short banter, Undyne informed Sans that there was something cool he needed to see. When he arrived, Frisk was on the piano, giving a small wave.

“Hi daddy, Undyne taught me how to do a song! Wanna hear it?” Sans grinned and took a seat.

 **“ yeah, lets hear it kiddo, im all ears.”** he said with a wink. Frisk giggled and began to play. The instant Sans heard it, his eyes turned into stars. It was….his resting theme. Frisk was smiling as her fingers moved along the keys. He stayed silent as the music echoed through the house , and as it ended Frisk looked over to her dad.

“Oh your eyes are starry! Does that mean you like it?” 

**“ m….mweh heh heh! kiddo that was amazing”** Frisk gasped, hearing the ever so rare laugh that her dad would do. She promptly ran up to him and gave him a hug.

“I'm gonna learn how to play everyone's theme! Pappy’s and Undyne’s and Alphys’ and miss Tori’s….” 

**“ heh, sounds like you have your work cut out for ya undyne.”**

“Yeah, but Frisk is gonna learn it no problem!” Frisk then gave Undyne a high-five and Sans took her to Grillby’s.

 

On days where Undyne, Papyrus, and Sans were busy, Frisk still had a choice of three people to watch over her. Sometimes she would go to new home and see Asgore. Often Frisk would help with his flower garden, enjoying what sunlight was able to enter. Other times, Frisk would spend time with Toriel, learning snail facts and new puns to tell Sans. There were times where Frisk would spend time with Alphys, watching her work, testing out a few things, or binging appropriate anime shows. During one visit with Alphys, someone else came into the lab.

“Alphys darling i’m back!” Mettatons voice rang out. Frisk recognised the voice and gasped as the robotic superstar entered the room and spotted her. 

“O-Oh, Mettaton, hi! T-This is Frisk!” Frisk walked up to Mettaton with wide eyes.

“Um...hi. I’m Frisk, I really like your show Mr. Mettaton! Its really fun.” To which Mettaton responded by putting a smiley face on his screen.

“Well i’m glad you enjoy it darling! It’s a pleasure to meet you. “ Mettaton went on with what he needed with Alphys, while also making sure to try some materiel out in front of Frisk.Over time Frisk found more fun activities. Small acts with Mettaton every now and again, or cooking lessons with Papyrus and Undyne, or even anime binging sessions. Sometimes, Frisk would get to sit in Grillby’s bar, coloring, chatting away with Grillby about everything and nothing, and of course playing with the royal dogs.  
____________________________________________________________________________  
Today, Frisk is visiting the Ruins while her dad and Papyrus go on patrol. After some pie and puns, Frisk asked if she could explore the Ruins.

“Hm, I suppose so, there are some puzzles out there though, feel free to ask the others for help! And be sure to call me if you get into trouble!” 

“I will, Thank’s Miss Tori!” Frisk said as she gave Toriel a quick hug before leaving. Toriel smiled, she had no problem letting Frisk go out there, why? Because she knew the monsters of the Ruins, She had spread the word of Frisk around enough for most of them to know not to harm them. As she explored, she found the ruins spiders’ bake sale, and bought a doughnut. Muffet's was always too expensive. She then proceeded through puzzle rooms, wiggling with moldsmals, complementing froggits, and eventually she got to a room with a ghost hanging around.  
“Oh! Hi” Napstablook turned to the child

“Oh….hello….um, am i….in your way?” Frisk tilted her head 

“No, just wanted to say hi! Im Frisk, what’s your name?”

“Oh...im napstablook. I live in waterfall but…..these ruins are quiet.” Frisk nodded

“Oh! You’re the one Undyne told me about, the one that makes music and has a snail farm by her house right?” 

“Undyne….told you about me? Ohhhh.” Frisk smiled 

“Um….do you think I could listen to some of your music? I like music.” Napstablook looked a little shocked.

“You….want to hear my music? Oh gee….that sounds like fun. Maybe later, you seem to be busy.” Frisk nodded 

“Okay! Maybe next time I go to see auntie Undyne I’ll stop by!” A small smile appeared on Napstablook’s face.

“That would be nice…” 

After this conversation Frisk would proceed through the rest of the Ruins. Little did she know that on the surface, Her father, Frank Warren, was standing over a gaping hole that would lead him into the underground, though he did not know it. 

They say that whoever goes into this mountain never comes out. From what his wife told him, supposedly that's because there is something keeping them trapped. He wasn’t sure if he could believe this, but…..living in this world without his wife and child….seemed impossible. No matter what he did, there was always a hollowness inside, a pain that just would not go away. As he looked at the hole, he thought of Alice…..of his child...what would Frisk have been like? Would she be as stubborn as her mother? Would she have had a prankster streak like he did? These were questions that he would never get an answer to. A part of him wanted to just jump into the hole, and disappear, perhaps he would see them again. Yet….that isn’t what Alice, nor Frisk, would want, they'd want him to find a way to be happy, despite the fact that he wasn’t sure he could really feel that again. Besides, Their memorial by the river needed tending too, and someone needed to take care of the flowers. Frank shook his head and began to walk away from the hole, he needed to live, for Alice, and Frisk. 

Frisk walked into the chamber that her father would have fallen into, looking at the strange patch of flowers in the center of the room. The rest of the room had pillars inside of it, and the flower patch seemed slightly raised, as if something was buried under it. A shadow came from above the hole, and Frisk looked around wondering where it was coming from...was it from above? She heard....crying? but before she could react, the shadow moved away, until it disappeared completely. Frisk decided to pay it no mind, maybe it was her imagination running wild. The flowers by her feet began to sway, despite there being no wind. And Frisk heard a voice, it was as if whoever it was was right next to her.

(Greetings.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe.....so close, and yet so far away. what a shame >:D


	8. The true name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright and here we have narra chara! chara speaks ( like this) and asterisks, or aster-FRISKS  
> are frisk's thoughts.

Frisk gasped and turned around, and next to her, was a strange looking being. She was wearing a green shirt with yellow stripes, and brown pants, and her cheeks were a rosy color. Frisk’s eyes widened 

“Y-you look like…...me…”

(Well duh, we’re both human, It is odd though, I…..only just woke up.)

“Wait really? I’m Frisk, what’s your name?”

(I am Chara. So how did you get into the underground? You did not fall through this hole like most did, clearly.)

“Ummmm….i’ve been here my whole life, my dad even has my baby pictures.” Chara looked legitimately surprised, but also she was getting feedback from Frisk’s thoughts and what Frisk was saying.

( wait hold on one second, Frisk could you try thinking words instead of saying them? I want to see something real quick…)

*um…..okay…...that's kinda weird.*

(I know it is odd, but, apparently I can hear your thoughts….strange.) 

*Wait really? That’s kinda cool!*

(Yeah, this is very odd indeed. It might be best if we keep quiet about this until we know what’s going on. So...who is your dad?)  
*Oh! His name is Sans! Him and uncle pappy are working so i'm visiting with Miss Tori!* As Frisk said this, Chara saw flashes, of two skeletons and….her mom. Chara had no idea what to do with this information, she needed to see things for herself.

(Hey Frisk, would it be okay if I stuck around you for a while? It would seem I have missed much since I was alive.)

*Sure!* And with that Chara and Frisk made their way back through the Ruins, Chara adding some commentary to Frisk’s interactions.

(You wiggle at the moldsmal and it wiggles back! What a meaningful conversation!)

( Froggit didn’t understand what you said, but was flattered anyway.)

Frisk laughed to herself as Chara continued narrating things. Eventually they made it back to Toriel’s home. Chara wondered what could have happened to cause Toriel to ever be away from Asgore, by the looks of it she’s been in the Ruins for a very long time.

“Ah you are back! Greetings my child!” Toriel said with a smile. Chara watched as Frisk interacted with ‘miss Tori’, telling jokes, learning snail facts, until a short skeleton came to pick them up. Chara assumed that this was Sans, as Frisk rushed over and gave him a hug.

(how the heck is he so huggable?)

*It’s one of dad and Pappy’s greatest mysteries.* before they left, Toriel handed them a butterscotch and cinnamon pie.

( you have obtained the butts pie)

*pffff charaaaaa.*

Chara observed as Frisk went back to her home. As they walked and joked, Chara noticed that very little had changed over the years as far as how the Underground looked. Snowden was still covered in snow, monsters running about playing, but one thing Chara did find odd was the stares some of the older monsters would give Frisk, they looked…..angry? Why? Monsters never had a problem with her when she was alive, so what makes Frisk so different? They passed the snow golf game, where Frisk decided to play again, this time getting an orange flag. 

(Near the hole is a snowball, well actually, it is a snow decahedron.)

*What’s a decahedron?*   
( an object with ten sides.)

*oh.* Chara smiled, looks like she was going to be teaching Frisk some things before their time if she kept that up. When the next day started, Frisk decided she wanted to go explore the Underground a bit. Sans said yes, as long as Undyne and Alphys were keeping an eye out. Once more Sans and Papyrus were out on sentry duty, but Sans was at his waterfall sentry station before Frisk ever got there, despite her being the first to leave. This was par for the course.

“Hi Dad!” Sans was leaning back in his chair with a grin.

 **“ sup kiddo. Say, you know how my job is keeping a lookout for humans? well, i think i know how to meet my quota.”** Frisk tilted her head, and then laughed as Sans pulled her to him with his blue magic. He then wrapped his jacket around her.

 **“ there, now you’re stuck here, oh well, may as well take a nap.”** He then pulled out his phone.

 **“ hey undyne, just caught a human. yup, here, say hi.”** Sans said as he handed the phone to Frisk.

“Hi Undyne!”

“Oh hah hah very funny Sans, now get back to work!”

**“ actually it’s almost time for my break.”**

“What? But you just started working ten minutes ago!”

**“ what can i say, it’s tiring work.”**

( His job truly is difficult.)

Eventually Sans let Frisk go and she walked through the rest of waterfall, making sure to visit the bird that carries people over a disproportionately small gap for a shortcut to Undyne and Napstablook’s homes. Since Undyne was out, Frisk decided to see if her other new friend wanted to hang out for a bit. She knocked on the door and Napstablook’s voice came from behind it.

“Oh, um...come in….if you want.” Frisk let herself in and smiled

“Hi napstablook!” 

“Oh, Frisk, you actually came….cool. Do you want to….listen to some music?” 

“I like music!”

“Cool….there are a few records over on the counter for you to listen to.” 

( This one is labeled spooktune) Frisk pressed the button and the song began to play, Frisk smiled.

“This one’s really catchy.”

“ heh, a classic spook tune, they don't make songs like these anymore….” Frisk moved over to the next record.

(This one is labeled ‘spookwave’) Frisk played it and smiled at the ambiance. She began to hum along.

“Oh this is different! It’s cool too!”

“Yeah, that ambiance…..it's like my whole body is getting spooked.” Frisk’s stomach then started to growl.

“Oh….are you hungry? I might have some food….in the fridge.” Frisk nods and heads over to the fridge.

( Inside is a ghost sandwich. You want to try eating that?)

*heck yeah* Frisk thought as she tried to take a bite, only for the sandwich to fall right through her.

“Oh, that's right...you can’t eat ghost food….ooooooh…..after a nice meal I like to lay around for a bit and feel like garbage, would you like to join me?” Frisk pondered as to why anyone would want to feel like garbage, but as Sans taught her, take any opportunity to rest that you can. Frisk laid beside Napstablook, keeping perfectly still as he had said. Eventually, the world began to fade from around her, as she felt herself floating into the infinite. Stars and galaxies surrounded her, and she was mesmerized by this. 

*Woooah…..that's really pretty……*

(The constant dance of the universe…..expanding and contracting…..energy drifting off into the infinite….) Frisk laid there for a little longer before getting up, the world fading back in around her. She felt as though she could understand the world a lot better now. Now she needed a break from laying down, so with a goodbye, Frisk left Napstablook to his music making. Waterfall was peaceful enough, and once Frisk got to hotland she made sure to stop by Alphys’ place for a bit of a break. Chara found Alphys to be a total nerd, and she was infecting Frisk with her nerdiness. This thought made Chara laugh a little.

(Okay but she NEEDS to let you see the second mew mew kissy cutie. She may say it's trash, but you should always form your own opinion.)

*Hm maybe I can watch that one during the next sleepover!*

(There you go.)

 

After a while, Frisk left and made it all the way to New Home. As Frisk walked through the house, showing Chara the area, she was oddly quiet. Then, Frisk showed the room she usually slept in.

“And here’s where I usually sleep.”

( hm that bed looks comfortable, i'm surprised that you ever wanted to get up after laying in it.)

“Well, Pappy says shouldn't spend too long in bed. Dad usually spends a good chunk of the day asleep, but he says that skeletons need different sleep times than humans did.”

(Huh, hey Frisk why don’t you go talk with d….Asgore, I am sure that he would love a surprise visit. I am going to float around here, see what there is to see.) Frisk agreed and ran off. Chara, meanwhile, floated around, looking from room to room. Eventually after some nostalgia she headed to the castle proper. The judgement hall was as immaculate as ever, but what she saw in the downstairs area confused her. There were 6 caskets lined up, with one being hers and the others being adorned with heart shapes of various colors. 

(Why would he have these……) Chara looked for more answers, and found them in the ground. Sealed jars with souls floating inside of them, 6 in all. But that means there's a casket missing? Why? And the feelings she was getting from the souls….they were kids….why does Asgore have children souls?! Does that mean the reason Toriel isn't with him….

(There has to be a better explanation!) but as she searched, she found nothing left. So Chara went back to Frisk, who was sipping some tea with Asgore, chatting away. Now she had more questions than answers, and she had no idea how to get them. Frisk was too young yet to really know about the souls, so she was going to have to wait for information to come to her.


	9. 'sans' a mother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the truth comes out completely. Also, Ty spaceman for helping me with these chapters!  
> chapter title in referance to a fic being made by Ash, https://rkmac13.deviantart.com/art/Sans-A-Mother-Prologue-715004087 for some quality angst.
> 
> for a reminder ( parenthisis is Chara speaking to frisk)
> 
> *asterisks are Frisk communicating with Chara through her own thoughts*

The next day was a school day. Chara watched as Frisk made her way through the school. Chatting with Mk, making ice puns with one snow drake…..while another seemed to be glaring at them from behind. As recess started, Frisk walked over to the pun loving Snowdrake and their friend, MK, who seemed to be talking to a tall green fire elemental.

“Hey Frisk, ICE to see you!” 

“Yo Frisk how's it going?” The fire elemental simply smiled, letting the two address Frisk first.

“Hey Snowy, hi MK! And hi there, My name is Frisk, what’s yours?” Frisk asked addressing the green fire elemental. Her smile seemed familiar, a lot like Grillby’s.

“Hiya, the names Fuku, nice to finally meet you Frisk! ” Frisk blinked, OH. of course the smile looked familiar, Frisk had overheard Grillby and Sans talking about her.

“Oh! Grillby’s your dad right? Him and my dad like to swap stories about us.” The little orbs that acted as Fuku’s eyes moved in a circle

( guess you can't really eyeroll when your eyes are just tiny dots.) 

“Tell me about it, they won’t stop until they tell every embarrassing thing huh?” Frisk shrugged

“That's what dad’s do.”  
( accurate. Well these monsters seem nice)

Fuku laughed and went to go hang out with other monsters, ones her own age, the group seemed nice.

(what about the monsters that keep glaring at you when they think you won’t notice?)

*Those are some bullies. They think i'm an evil human, because their parents said that all humans were evil. But….that isn't true, because you aren't bad, and neither am I.*

(That is the right way of thinking Frisk, oh son of a- Frisk one of them is coming up behind you now, They have a snowball with a rock in it ready.)

*Left or right?* 

(Dodge to the right!) Chara shouted as a snowdrake known as Chilldrake launched the snowball, only for it to land on the ground where Frisk WAS standing. She turned around to face the monster.

“OK, what do you want now? “ Frisk said with an exasperated tone. The bullies had stuck to simple name calling and such for a while after getting in trouble the first time, so what’s changed? 

“Ain’t it obvious freak? I may have gotten in trouble from the teachers for fighting you, but my parents don’t care!” Chilldrake said with a sneer. MK stepped forward glaring daggers at the bully

“Leave her alone Chilldrake.” to which the ice monster laughed.

“Awwwww is this human your giiiiiirlfriend? Surprising, seeing as how her own human parents clearly didn't want her around.” Frisk froze. 

(w h a t.)

A slight blush appeared on MK’s face, but the shock faded fast.

“Yo,Chilldrake, I would highly recommend shutting up right now, sno-”

“Hah, i bet they just threw you down here because you were too weird for humans to even deal with.” By this point, Frisk was shaking. She never had a mom, it was always just her and her dad….she knew she was adopted but…. She was torn from her thoughts as snowdrake rushed forward, glaring at his cousin.

“Okay i'm only gonna say this one time. As someone who’s lost a parent? THAT IS NOT COOL. get the heck out of here, now.” Tears were actually starting to sting Snowy’s eyes.

“W-Wait snowy I wasn't….”

“You don’t know what their parents went through! None of us do! How dare you try to use that to hurt them? Seriously and to think I thought you were cool. Yet despite KNOWING that I lost my mom, you try to use someones parents against them?” Snowy was shaking, and MK didn’t look much happier.

“Yo, Frisk, Snowy, let's go somewhere else….this jerk isn’t worth the time.” 

( Frisk don’t let what chilldrake said get to you.)

*But…. Why am i not with my human parents…..what if they just didn’t want me around?*

(Frisk…...you should talk to Sans, he may know how you got down here, but…..something tells me you weren’t ‘given up’)  
Frisk sniffed as she and snowy followed MK, leaving Chilldrake to stand there, reflecting on just how bad he messed up. When they got far enough away, MK turned to the two monsters.

“You guys okay?” Frisk shrugged while Snowy looked to her apologetically

“Hey I'm sorry Frisk, I didn’t know my cousin was gonna be such a jerk. He should never have said that to you.” Frisk sighed

“I….I need to talk to my dad….maybe he might know a bit more about what happened. Think we should get the teachers on him again?”

MK shook his head “I dunno dude, even if the teachers suspend him, or give him detention, clearly he's not going to get trouble for it at home.” However Snowy grinned.

“My dad is able to exact some punishment, and when I tell him what Chilldrake said? He’s gonna be angry enough to talk to my aunt and uncle.” Eventually School ended, and Frisk walked back to her home, closing the door and putting away her things. She sat on her bed for a while, staring at the various pictures of her and her family. She heard a knock on her door. 

**“knock knock.”**

“Who’s there?”

**“ apple.”**

“Apple who?”

 **“APPLEasure to see ya!”** Chara snorted

(Oh my god that was simultaneously bad and amazing at the same time) 

The pun, coupled with Chara's reaction, earned a giggle from Frisk as she opened the door to let him in. Sans entered the room andnoticed that Frisk was looking down

**“ heya kiddo, how was school?”**

“It was going okay, class work was kinda easy and at recess I played with Snowy and MK, oh and I got to meet Fuku!”Frisk seemed to perk up slightly as she discussed her friends.

“nice, fuku’s a real….firecracker, huh?” The pun earned a snort from Frisk, but then the sad expression got to her again.

“Then….Chilldrake tired to hit me with a snowball, with a rock in it.” Sans’ eyelights disappeared. 

**“ w h a t.”**

“But, he missed. I asked him what he wanted this time, because up till now he had just stuck to name calling. He….He said that his parents werent gonna do anything to him and…..he….” Tears started to form at Frisk’s eyes. Sans quickly pulled his daughter into a hug, gently stroking her hair

“He said that the reason i'm living with you is….because my human parents didn't want me around, so they threw me down here….did….i get put here because they hated me?”

Sans sighed, and moved Frisk over to the bed to sit. 

**“kid, that couldn't be further from the truth,and i know some of it. i just wasn’t expecting to have to tell you so soon…”** Frisk looked up at her dad, tears still pricking her eyes.

“You…..you know something about my human parents?” Sans nodded

 **“yeah, only part of it but….i know enough to know that what chilldrake said was a load of crap.”** Frisk wiped away her tears 

“S-So...what happened?” Sans let out another sigh, best to start from the beginning.

He started with him walking by the river on his way to waterfall. How he had heard crying and discovered a raft, carrying her as an infant, and her mother floating beside it, shielding the raft from damage. 

**“she got hurt really bad. i did what i could, teleported you to alphys’ lab. You were fine, but your mom...she didn’t make it. She was able to ask me one thing, to take care of you.”** Frisk stared, trying to process what she just heard.

“So,my mom….died? And that's how you became my dad?...does that mean that Asgore has her soul then? For the barrier?” Frisk said as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. Chara wrapped Frisk in a ghostly hug, though Frisk couldn't feel it it was the thought that counts.

(I am sorry Frisk….) Beyond that, Chara didn’t know what to say. Sans continued to speak.

“ yeah, she gave her permission to use it to help us get out of here.” Frisk tilted her head.

“Can I see her? her….soul?” Sans took a minute to think.

 **“ i would hafta take it up with asgore, but i don’t see why you couldn't. i'm gonna go call and check, okay?”** Frisk nodded and Sans briefly left the room, informing Asgore of what happened.

“I see, Yes of course, I’ll have the soul prepared for viewing….but she should brace herself, as the souls can emit their feelings.” 

Sans agreed, and went to bring Frisk to the castle. In the furthermost chamber, Asgore stood with a purple soul floating in a glass jar. Once Sans and Frisk popped in, she stared at the purple soul. Both Sans and Asgore gave the child some distance, close enough to observe without intruding on their moment.

(Purple,the color of perseverance.) Frisk stared at the soul, slowly approaching it. The soul glowed brightly,.

“It’s really pretty…..” Frisk walked up to put her hand on the glass, and felt a surge of emotion. Love, pride, joy, her mom was…..happy? The feeling brought more tears to her eyes. This was her mother, one that she never got to know. 

“M-...Mom?” The soul pulsed in response, sending a wave of comfort washing over Frisk. 

“I don’t know what to say….” Alice’s soul pulsed with curiosity.

(Perhaps she wants to hear about you?) 

*Maybe...*

Frisk decided to talk about her life so far. She talked about her dad, and the jokes that they would tell. When Frisk told a few herself, the soul pulsed again with pride and joy.

( She likes puns as well. Your mother has excellent taste.)

Frisk continued, talking about spending time with Alphys, learning how to play the piano with Undyne, doing puzzles with uncle Papyrus. At all of this, the soul pulsed with contentment, and then another wave of curiosity.

*Hmmm anything else she may want?*

(Perhaps Sans should commune with her, after all he is fulfilling his promise to her.)

“Do you want to talk to my dad?” The soul shuddered slightly, a twinge of sorrow, but it was quickly covered with excitement. It changed too quickly for Frisk to notice. Frisk walked over to Sans and grabbed his hand.

“I think mom wants to talk to you to!” Sans seemed surprised for a second and then nodded, letting Frisk walk him to the soul. After placing his hand on the glass case, He felt a rush of gratitude, his smile widened.

 **“heh, of course, of course. your kid? she’s doin good, plenty of laughs, and uh….interesting relatives.”** The soul brightened, encouraging Sans to continue.

 **“ oh yeah she told ya bout ‘aunty’ undyne right? well, her and my brother, papyrus, like to cook. they’re very….enthusiastic when it comes to this. needless to say the kid winds up having to get a bath each and every time.”** Alice’s soul thrummed again with pure joy, she was happy to hear that her child was living a full life despite everything. Sans continued for a short while, talking about Frisk's first time crawling and walking, their first words, but while Alice was clearly happy her daughter was doing so well, there was a noticeable tinge of sadness as well. Sans knew why this was so and whispered so Frisk couldn't hear.

 **"Yeah, i get it.... i take it she's got a dad up there, right? a whole other family that thinks she's gone. well until a few years ago i wasn't much for optimism. but now, we're gonna find a way outta here, and she's going to see the sun."** Alice's soul once more gave off waves of gratitude, the sadness fading by a small amount.

After some time, the pair decided to give their goodby’s and head out. However home was not their destination, Sans had one more place to show Frisk. He had instead taken her to a room in Waterfall that Frisk had never been to. On the wall was a plaque adorned with golden and echo flowers that read:

“Here lies Alice Warren, a caring mother. Frisk, should you see this one day, know that your mother loved you dearly.” 

Frisk read the plaque, the words bringing a smile to her face, and turned to Sans

“This is...where her body is buried, right?” Sans nodded

“It's really pretty here. The stones in the ceiling even look a bit shinier than the other ones, and the flowers are nice too.” Sans leaned against one of the walls

 **“ yeah, it is pretty cool over here. undyne and asgore thought it best to have her here rather than some place in new home, here is way nicer. asgore likes to stop by now and again to keep the flowers fresh.”** Once Frisk had decided it was time, the two headed back home. Outside the house, MK was standing and chatting with Papyrus. Frisk went to play with him while Sans called Undyne, seeing if she could do something about the bullying issue school-wide. She agreed enthusiastically and when the news reached the kids at school, MK and Frisk were ecstatic.

“Yo this is so cool! Undyne’s actually coming to school today! I wonder what she’s gonna do here.” Frisk hummed in thought.

“I heard my dad talking to her a little, I think shes gonna talk about the bullying problem.”  
“Yo you think she’ll kick their butts?” Frisk laughed 

“Actually I think that once she says whatever she has to say, they won’t be an issue for a good while.” Eventually the school was gathered in an auditorium, and in front of everyone, stood Undyne.

“Alright, some of you punks already know why i'm here. From what i’ve been told, we seem to have a bit of a bullying problem here. Primarily to one specific student, and that is going to stop.” Undyne said, preferring to get straight to the point. 

“But they’re a human! Shouldn't you be capturing them so the barrier can break?” Undyne shook her head

“No, and I'm gonna tell you why. She’s been down here since before she could crawl. Like us, she has no idea what the surface looks like, like us, she’s just as trapped as we are. As far as any of us are concerned, Frisk is just as much a monster as the rest of us. So let me make this PERFECTLY clear. I’m not gonna get another call about a bullying problem, because if I do, none of you will like what happens next.” All of the children took this to heart and Frisk smiled.

(Huh, looks like they’re taking her seriously. Perhaps now most of this will stop.) and it did, mostly. Occasional incidents staged as accidents, but they happen less often, and were fairly abrupt as nobody wanted to get caught bullying now that Undyne was being brought in. Some bullies however, quickly changed their tunes permanently, including Chilldrake. As the year passed, Frisk was eventually left alone all together, aside from those who wanted to be her friend.


	10. new ability unlocked!

Years passed, and Frisk’s 7th birthday would arrive. A grand party with all of Frisk’s friends and family arriving to give the birthday girl the time of her life. There were even two cakes, one made by Toriel, and the other from Undyne.

(Oh mo-Toriel’s cake looks good. It would appear that instead of cake, Undyne brought us charcoal. Her enthusiasm surely knows no bounds.) Frisk giggled and looked around the room. Undyne and papyrus were doing their classic ‘ don't noogie the skeleton’ schtick that she could easily join in, or Sans was busy having a quality nap in the middle of a loud room. MK, Snowy and Fuku were playing tag, which Frisk would join in on with gusto. Eventually Undyne and Papyrus looked at eachother and grinned, Papyrus scooping up Frisk.

“UNDYNE, I HAVE FINALLY CAPTURED THE HUMAN! NYEH HEH HEH!” Frisk giggled letting out a sarcastic  
“Noooooooooo, how could I be so easily defeateeeeeeeeed.” Causing Undyne to laugh

“ Fuhuhuhu excellent work Papyrus….do you know what we do to humans down here? We subject them to ULTIMATE TICKLE FIGHTS!” Frisk squirmed in Papyrus’ grasp as she was mercilessly tickled by Undyne.

As laughter rang out, a knock was heard at the door, and in came Alphys and Mettaton.

“Goooooood evening beauties!” Papyrus turned, Frisk still in his arms.

“OH, METTATON IT IS AN HONOR TO HAVE YOU HERE FOR MY NIECE'S BIRTHDAY!” Mettaton put a smiley face up on his screen  
“Well now I couldn't let this little darling go without a present from yours truly now could I?” Mettaton replied. 

“OF COURSE! “ Frisk looked up at Mettaton.

“Hiya Mettaton, are you going to do a show?” Causing Mettaton to let out a laugh.

“Why of course! It wouldn’t be a party if I don’t bring my A game for your special day!” Frisk cheered, and the party only got better from there. After some cake and nicecream, and Mettaton’s mini concert, Frisk was now able to open her birthday presents. The first ones she opened were from Sans and Papyrus. Sans had gotten his daughter a large joke book chock full of new materiel for her to try out. Frisk cheered while Papyrus let out a ‘nyeh’ of despair.

“Nyah hah hah! Thanks daddy!”

“NYEEEEEH,SANS OH MY GOD YOU REALLY GOT HER ANOTHER JOKE BOOK?” Frisk giggled as Papyrus handed his present, which happened to be a new scarf, keeping with Frisk’s preferred theme of pink and blue.  
(Handcrafted Scarf. +10 DEF, very fashionable, enchanted to allow the wearer to resist cold temperatures.)

“Uncle Pappy I love it! Thank you!” Frisk said as she went to hug Papyrus. Next would be Undyne and Alphys, who both decided to make a present for Frisk, an electric piano, small enough for her to carry and hook up. Undyne gave a wide grin

“Now you can practice whenever the heck you feel like it!” Frisk gave her thanks and retrieved Alphys’ gift, a mew mew kissy cutie plush, Which Frisk hugged tightly and smiled.

“Thank you aunty! Its really cool!” Alphys let out a nervous laugh 

“Y-Yeah, i'm glad you like it!” and next was Mettatons, a dress in her size, with purple and blue stripes. Frisk looked it over with a smile.

“It’s so cool! Thank you Mettaton!”

“You’re very welcome darling!” Toriel smiled

“Oh that is a lovely dress Frisk!”  
The party continued, more gifts were had, and cake was served. Frisk looked around her and felt something stirring, deep within her soul. In front of her, a small yellow star formed, unseen by anyone else.  
(Being around all of your friends and family fills you with determination.)  
*Woah, that was weird, how’d I do that?*

(I am not sure, but you just had a surge of determination go through you so….that is odd.) The star stayed throughout the day,Frisk even saw some of them walk right through the star without pause. This captured her curiosity more, and then as time passed, Frisk noticed that little stars similar to the one she saw popping up in seemingly random places in the underground. One day, Frisk was making her way through waterfall, running a small errand for the Ruins spiders. As she walked through the trash dump, one of the stars appeared. She actually enjoyed the feeling she got from touching these stars, as she touched it Chara spoke.  
(Seeing the endless cycle of falling trash fills you with determination.) Frisk giggled as she felt a strong feeling pulse through her, she really did feel more determined. Along the way MK ran into her, and they traveled for a bit, up to the bridge at the end of Waterfall. Frisk and MK were chatting away happily, with Chara watching contently, but suddenly, MK stumbled forward over his own feet, and fell head first off of the bridge. 

“MK!!” Frisk screamed as she tried to reach him, only to be too late. Tears pricked her eyes, this couldn't be happening, why? Why couldn't she help him? She wanted her friend back, there HAD to be a way, she couldn't stop crying, trying to find MK where he fell, with no luck.  
(No….) Front her wish to go back, to see her friend again, a button emerged in front of Frisk.

***Load**

She pressed the button with curiosity, only to find herself standing back in the trash dump, standing in front of the star.  
(Wait, what? How did we get h-) 

“Yo, Frisk!” Frisk froze as she heard MK’s voice. She turned, hardly believing what she saw, her friend was alive. Frisk rushed over and hugged MK without thinking, only to hear Chara say  
(No way….and that's exactly what he said before….) Mk laughed off the hug and they continued their journey. Frisk noticed that everything was going the same way as before, the two walking, having the same conversation, right up to the bridge. Once more MK went to run across it, only Frisk was following close behind, and right as he tripped, Frisk pulled him back, taking him with her to the other side. 

“Yo that was close, thanks Frisk!” Frisk looked on in astonishment, wondering exactly what was happening.  
(It happened when you wanted to go back…...to before this happened...Frisk, try thinking about it again, let's see if it happens again.) Frisk does as Chara requested, and brought up the load option again, and it brought the same results, everything happening as it did before, right down to MK’s words, and the board he tripped on.  
(It’s like….we can go back in time! At Least to the last point we touched one of those star things.)

*That's….kinda cool! I wonder what else I could do with this!*  
Frisk and MK decided headed back home. Days passed and Frisk had an idea. If she could LOAD, she could do things that would normally get her yelled at, like eating all the monster candy her dad has on the counter, or figuring out where someone was going to be to set up a prank!  
(So many possibilities, and an infinite amount of time to do it, what will you do first, partner?) 

*Hmm….well, I don’t feel like eating a bunch of candy today….but I AM in the mood for possibly pranking uncle papy!* 

( doesn't Sans prank him across time and space enough?)

*Well yeah, but now its ME doing it! Here i'm gonna save before Papy gets here, If I load enough i can set up a huuuuuge prank.*

Chara observed as Frisk let the rest of the day play out, she repeated this day and set her first trap, a large whoopie cushion right on the floor mat, exactly where Papyrus was going to step. From there he would take a step to the side….she should put some squeaky toys there for added effect. Frisk repeated this kind of process until, finally, her master plan came to fruition. Papyrus stepped on the first whoopie cushion trap, and proceeded to stumble into various other traps set by Frisk. She watched all of this from the stairs as Papyrus yelled

“UGH, SANS STOP PRANKING ME ACROSS SPACE AND TIME!” Frisk laughed as Sans exited his room.

 **“what? pap i didn’t do any pranks yet….”** and when Sans heard Frisk’s muffled giggling, it told him all he needed to know. THAT'S why time was suddenly looping back again…..but this time it’s his own kid doing it. He watched as Frisk walked into the livingroom and greeted Papyrus, he would have to have a chat with her in a minute. Once Papyrus was in the kitchen making food, he went to Frisk.

 **“ hey kiddo, wanna know a cool secret?”** Frisk was curious as to where this was going.

 **“ so, when i was around your age, i really liked the idea of time travel, i even came up with my own secret code word in case i ever ran into one.”** Frisk’s eyes widened

“Really?” 

**“ yeah, wanna hear it? I haven't told anyone else this, so you gotta keep it a secret.”**

“Okay!”

 ***whisper, whisper whisper*** Frisk reeled back as he said his phrase.

“Really daddy, THAT'S the phrase?”

 **“ yup.”** Frisk shook her head as she brought up the ;load option, which was unseen by Sans.

(Hang on, are you about to tell him his codeword before he even tells you the codeword?)

*Heck yeah! Daddy knows something, I can tell! Though...his phrase is really silly.* Frisk pressed the button, and re did her things, until she ran into Sans.

 **“ heya kiddo, wanna kn-”** “I know, you have a secret codeword, it’s ‘I am a stupid doodoo butt’!” causing Sans to snort

**“pff wow, that's not the kinda jokes a seven year old should be making. code word eh? well kiddo, that isn't quite good enough, i have a secondary code word, for people who already know the code word, my secret secret code word. You wanna hear it?”**

“Yeah!”

 ***Whimsper, whimsper*** the phrase made Frisk laugh and she loaded again, going through her day and then running into Sans once more. Frisk had an excited look

“I know your secret secret codeword! I am the legendary fartmaster!” Sans snorted, just as he had before

 **“ wow kiddo, that’s uh, kinda childish. Whoever told you that was a secret code word was a total liar. However i have a secret secret TRIPLE secret code word…...which you just said.”** Frisk laughed a little, and then her curiosity took over.

“So….you know something about the weird load ability thing?”

 **“ well, i know of it, but uh, let's take this chat to my room.”** and suddenly they were there. Frisk seemed a little worried.

“Am I in trouble?” to which Sans shook his head 

**“ nah kiddo, there’s just quite a bit about that little ability you have. do ya think you can tell me when it started, and when you figured out how to use it?”** Frisk recounted her tale, of a star appearing at the party when she was feeling particularly determined, and those same stars appearing all over the underground. When Frisk got to the part about MK falling off of the bridge, he pulled her into a light hug.

“But now everything's fine, he’s safe, ‘cuz of my loading, and I decided to see what else I can do.”

**“ like pranking your uncle across space and time?”** Frisk smiled 

“Yup!” Sans let out a chuckle 

**“ well, i can’t say anything about that, i’d definitely do the same thing, but uh, maybe you shouldn't do that too often kiddo.”** Frisk nodded, and then had a question of her own. 

“So how do you know about the save and load thing?” 

**“ well, a long time ago, way before you came down here, i used to work on science stuff with alphys and….someone else, can’t remember who. Anyways we were studying timelines and found that for some reason, time was looping back on itself, stopping and starting, until suddenly, everything ends.”** Frisk gasped 

“Was that because of me?” Again, Sans shook his head 

**“ nah kiddo, you see, the way time works, its not a set in stone, it isn't permanent, it can change at any point, which is why we kept looking at the timeline. Eventually, it changed but there was still something causing the timelines to go back on themselves, and the anomaly would appear at a certain point in time. I think that you just took that anomaly’s place kiddo.”**

**“So instead of someone else having the reset thing, I have it? Why?”**

**“ well my working theory is amounts of determination. You see, waaaay back in the day when there were wizards, the determination once were tough, like able to come back from being dead tough. For the more powerful ones, they could save and load.”**

**“Do you think that I'M a wizard then?” Sans shrugged **“ eh you could be, but the anomaly that had it before you…..didn’t do very good things with it. In fact, he used it to do extremely bad things, and then load so he wouldn't have to pay for it.”** Frisk gasped “What? That's awful!” **“ yeah, and for me, i can tell when the timeline reloads, because i know how to recognize the dejavu, which is that ‘ I've seen this before’ feeling. Sometimes, memories will even come in the form of dreams, or nightmares.”** Frisk thought on this**

“What kind of bad things did he do?’ **“ well, he did a lot of things that you don’t really need to hear about kiddo, just that he would do things that would hurt people really bad, and then take it all back and act like it never happened.”** <“Well i’m not gonna do that!” Frisk said with her eyes brimming with determination. Sans’ grin widened a little as he ruffled her hair. **“ i know babybones, just be careful with that power okay?”** Frisk agreed, but then had a mischievous grin “I can still prank people though, right?” **“ pfff mweheheheheh, kid you really think i’d try to stop you from performing more masterpieces like what went on downstairs?”** to which Frisk cheered and gave her father a hug. Sans knew that now, even if they do loop back now and again, it was HIS kid holding the reigns, and this, gave him a sense of comfort, knowing that as long as Frisk was in control, at the very least the nightmares would be over. Meanwhile, in Waterfall, Flowey waited, contemplating his next move. The brat figured out their loading abilities, killing them would never have done any good, and now if he does show his true colors then she’d go tell that stupid smiley trashbag. He would even bet that the trash bag already knows that Frisk can reload. He will just have to bide his time and strike when the moment is ripe. There was no sense in showing his hand before he knows exactly how it play it and when to strike, but an idea came to him. An idea that would make his moment of opportunity so much sweeter, and with a cackle he made his way to Snowdin.


	11. Flowey is not a good best friend

Papyrus stood in his kitchen, making breakfast for Frisk and Sans. eventually, he heard a door open and little footsteps coming down the stairs. 

“AH, GOOD MORNING FRISK! I SEE YOU ARE FINALLY DONE NAPPING THE NIGHT AWAY!” Frisk giggled

“Well, I do have a great role model for it.” Papyrus moved towards Frisk, scooping her up into a hug

“NYOO HOO HOO, FRISK YOU MUST RESIST YOUR FATHER’S LAZINESS!” Frisk’s smile grew as she tilted her head back with her arm over her head, just like Mettaton taught her.

“Alas, daddy’s influence is too strong! I want to…..do nothing but watch T.V and eat popato chisps!” Papyrus let out a gasp 

“OH NO! IT IS WORSE THAN I HAD FEARED, BUT WORRY NOT! FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL SAVE YOU WITH PUZZLES!”

“That...sounds fun! I can feel his laziness influencing me less already.” While the two giggled, they had yet to notice that Sans had gotten up, and was standing in the entryway with a grin, and a bottle of ketchup. 

**“ well, the both of ya seem to be in a good mood today.”** Papyrus set Frisk down as she beamed at Sans. 

“Morning Daddy! After breakfast can I play outside?” 

**“ sure, I don’t see a problem with that, but we got tori comin to give us baking lessons, so uh, just stay in the Snowdin area for now, ok baby bones?”** Frisk nodded eagerly.

“I’LL BE OUT PATROLLING WITH THE OTHER GUARDS, BE SURE TO CALL ONE OF US IF THERE’S A PROBLEM!” Papyrus said as he piled Frisk’s plate with spaghetti. Now that Toriel had been giving him pointers, it was actually edible. Once breakfast was had, Papyrus raced off to do his rounds and re-calibrate his puzzles while Sans took his spot on the couch. 

**“welp, have fun kiddo.”** Frisk smiled and hugged her dad. She then dawned her coat and scarf and went outside. Kids were playing around the town, adults having mild chit-chat as they went about their days. Chara;’s voice echoed in Frisk’s head

( hey, you wanna go see if the shopkeeper lady has some spare cinnabuns?) 

*Oh! That’s a good idea!* Frisk made her way to the shop, where the rabbit woman was pulling out a fresh batch of cinnabuns. 

“Oh hey there Frisk! Hows my favorite lil customer?” the shopkeeper said, giving Frisk a gentle pinch on the cheek.

“I’m good, I was wondering if you had any spare cinnabuns?” the rabbit monster laughed before speaking

“Well now ain’t that a coincidence? Ya see, I just made an entire batch for the royal guard to have one each, but my my it seems that I made too many! Hm, are you busy with other things dear?” 

“Nope! Daddy’s letting me play until miss Tori comes over to teach us how to bake pies!” 

“I see! Well, do you think you could deliver the cinnabuns to the guards at their stations? Each guard gets one, and when you’re done you can have the rest as payment, sound like a deal?” Frisk pumped her fist into the air.

“Heck yeah!” and with that Frisk was off delivering cinnabuns. Greater Dog and Lesser Dog both yipped excitedly as they smelled the fresh baked goods Frisk held in her inventory, thanking Frisk in licks, she also made sure to assure them that they were very good dogs. The other dogs came after and Frisk made her way to deliver a cinnabun to Papyrus. She didn’t see him on her way through the main part of Snowdin however.

(Perhaps he is in that area between here and Waterfall.) Frisk nodded as she made her way back.

 

Flowey soon got bored of waiting, nothing interesting was happening, so perhaps he should provide some of his OWN entertainment. Flowey knew everyone’s moves, even that stupid smiley trashbag couldn't land a hit on him anymore! Of course, he was going to need some LV first! He went to the Ruins and as usual, nobody there posed a challenge. However, Flowey did find it a little exciting having to kill Toriel before she could call anyone. At 4 LV, Flowey decided this was enough to one shot most monsters he would encounter. Eventually, he would find Papyrus, in the fog covered area between Snowdin and Waterfall.

“Howdy Papyrus!” Papyrus turned with a smile on his face

“AH GREETINGS FLOWEY! WHAT BRINGS YOU OVER TODAY?”

“I was thinking we could do a bit of a spar! I’ve been training a bunch!”

“WOWIE, THAT'S GREAT! SURE WE CAN SPAR! PREPARE YOURSELF, NYEH HEH HEH!” Papyrus brought up several bone attacks that flew towards Flowey, only for him to duck under them. Frisk’s silhouette was just barely visible now, it was the time to strike. With a wink towards Papyrus, a circle of pellets surrounded Papyrus’ neck and closed, sending the poor skeleton’s health to one.

“W-WOWIE...THAT IS A VERY STRONG ATTACK, PERHAPS WE SHOULD-” he didn’t get to finish as Flowey brought down the final blow.

As she entered the area between Snowdin and Waterfall, Frisk could see Papyrus’ silhouette, but something was wrong. Papyrus suddenly collapsed to his knees, Frisk started to run towards her uncle, only to see him jerk back again, still upright for the most part.

“P-Papyrus!” Frisk yelled as she barreled towards her uncle. He looked hurt, his battle body was torn to shreds, but Alphys taught her how to tell if something was wrong with someone.

*ACT *Check

(….Papyrus…..his hp is gone….) Frisk’s eyes widened as Papyrus began to speak. 

“F-FRISK? NO, YOU NEED TO GET….BACK...HOME…” Frisk hastily pulled out the cinnabuns and held them out to him.

“W-Wait, eat these, you’ll get better!” however as she said this, Papyrus’ body fell to dust, leaving only his head, causing the poor child to shriek.

“I...I DON’T THINK THAT’S GOING TO WORK….PLEASE….TAKE CARE OF YOUR FATHER FOR ME, OK?” Frisk grabbed Papyrus’ skull, hugging it tightly.

“No, no no no please don't go, please!” Tears were freely running down Frisk’s cheeks and on to Papyrus’ slowly deteriorating skull.

“IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY FRISK…..I LOVE YOU…..” and with that Papyrus’ skull turned into dust, right in her arms. Frisk stared with a mixture of shock and horror. Out of view, Flowey was watching with a satisfied grin. Chara looked at the scene in horror but did her best to compose herself... 

(Frisk, listen to me, I know this is REALLY messed up, but we need to load. We can skip the cinnabuns and prevent whatever the hell caused this.) but Frisk couldn't move, dust was covering her as Papyrus’ scarf flapped in the wind.

*I….I have to tell dad….he’s going to be really worried when I load.* 

(Good idea, bring up the button and let's fix this.) With a determined nod, Frisk dried her tears and pressed the load button. She always saved at the start of the day, just in case. On her way downstairs, she saw Papyrus in the kitchen, no doubt making that breakfast spaghetti he did last time. Frisk ran down the stairs, going around Papyrus and giving him a hug.

“OH, WELL GOOD MORNING TO YOU TOO FRISK!” Papyrus lifted the child up grinning at her.

“I TAKE IT YOU ARE READY FOR MY SIGNATURE BREAKFAST SPAGHETTI?” Frisk’s eyes started to water, she wrapped her arms around Papyrus’ neck, a few tears leaking onto the back of his scarf. 

“HM? FRISK YOU ARE SHAKING, IS SOMETHING WRONG? IS IT TOO COLD IN HERE?” 

“N-No, I just...had a nightmare. A really really bad nightmare.” little did Frisk know, this was the most worrisome thing she could have said to Papyrus.

“I SEE, WELL I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT WHATEVER HAPPENED, DIDN’T HAPPEN! IT WAS ALL JUST A DREAM. “ Papyrus said as he gently rubbed Frisks back. And as if right on cue, Sans entered the kitchen, looking at the sight before him. Papyrus was holding Frisk…..she had tears in her eyes. That combined with that dejavu….did she load?

**“ heya.”**

“ SANS IT WOULD SEEM FRISK HAS HAD A SCARY NIGHTMARE, BUT FEAR NOT! FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM AN EXPERT WHEN IT COMES IN HELPING COMBAT NIGHTMARES! NYEH HEH HEH!. Frisk giggled 

“Nyah hah hah, you’re the coolest uncle pappy.” 

**“ heh, no one can chase away a bad dream like you bro.”** after being let back onto the floor, Frisk looked at Sans, who motioned back to the stairs. Frisk followed him up to his room, where he sat on his bed patting the spot beside him. As Frisk sat, Sans, spoke.

**“ So kiddo, that uh….nightmare, did that have anything to do with you loading?”** More tears came to Frisk’s eyes, she hugged Sans tightly.

“I….Pappy got hurt….really bad...he...he turned to dust right in front of me. I couldn't even see what happened.” a jolt ran through Sans. something or someone hurt Papyrus….right in front of his kid. Sans returned the hug, his eyelights disappearing, leaving a dark glare that Frisk could not see.

**“ so you loaded, great call kiddo. hey, everything’s gonna be alright, we won’t let it happen again.”**

“But who would hurt uncle Papy like that? No monster here would even want to.” Sans looked down in thought, and one came to him. He just hoped to god he was wrong.

**“ remember what I told you about the load ability? how the last one to have it did a lot of bad things? things like what happened before you loaded, happened a lot when they were in control. If they are still around, they might know you have the load ability. we need to find this creep.”**

( You know...if that thing does remember loads, all you gotta do is hold out until he gets bored. I mean, just reload today every time something happens and limit your reactions. Keep in mind, YOU possess the power to keep everyone alive no matter what.)

*That...isn’t a bad idea, but how do we know for sure?* 

(If things happen the exact same as before, then he likely doesn't remember, if they change at all, like someone else dying, we know he’s doing things differently.) Frisk smiled and let Sans in on the shared idea.

“And since I'm the one able to load, the anomaly can’t really hurt anyone.” Sans nodded 

**“ sounds like a sound plan kiddo, suppose we should just keep an eye on pap today.”** Frisk nodded, and Sans wondered something. He knew his kid was bright, but that was a rather well thought out plan for a seven-year-old. Though it was a good idea, he would have to check on the ‘how’ later, but for right now, they had business to take care of. 

Flowey once again killed everyone in the Ruins, during this time, Frisk and Sans were going with Papyrus on his patrols for some ‘bonding time’. Flowey went straight to waterfall, the room where one of sans’ sentry stations sat. In front of it, Monster Kid was walking towards Snowdin. Flowey knew exactly where Papyrus’ patrol would end, so he waited until MK was close enough that Papyrus and Frisk would be able to see him die. With a few pellets, MK screamed in pain before crumbling to dust. Frisk froze in place as she and the two skeletons heard the scream.

“T-That sounds like MK! He sounds hurt!” Frisk sprinted to the source of the scream, with Papyrus and Sans following close behind. Papyrus was able to get ahead a little and see a yellow shirt...covered in dust. He quickly turned and scooped up Frisk, shielding her eyes from the sight.

“WAIT, FRISK….YOU SHOULDN'T SEE THIS.” 

(that thing DOES remember….) 

“Hey dad….it remembered. I'm gonna load now, okay?” Sans nodded as everything faded to white. Once more Sans awoke feeling the strongest sense of dejavu he has ever felt. Frisk walked into his room wearing a determined grin. She re-explained the situation, apparently, she had to load several times in order to bore the anomaly enough for them to stop what they were doing.

**“ so you think it’s all good now?”** Frisk shrugged 

“Well, it’s hard to say, but I guess I’ll find out this time around.” the day progressed as it normally would have, Papyrus made his rounds, Sans ran his illegal hotdog stand and MK was walking home to his house. Flowey had done his thing over a hundred times, each time he got no further because that brat kept reloading, not even seeming phased at the death’s of those close to her anymore. Flowey grinned, this was the perfect set up, get them to not care….show them how easily they could toy with their lives. If he could get them to see things his way….things would get MUCH more interesting. The flower popped up in front of Frisk, who was on her way to give Papyrus his cinnabun. 

“Howdy!” Frisk tilted her head at him, she knew this path like the back of her hand now….and this flower she’s never seen before in any of the loads shows up in the middle of her route?

“Hi….so are you the one that’s been hurting people and making me load?” Flowey cackled 

“Golly you’re a perceptive one!” Frisk crossed her arms and said in a blunt, flat tone.

“What do you want.” 

“Why I just want to have a little chat, one anomalous freak to another!” 

*Ok what the heck is anomalous?*

( he’s basically saying both you and him are anomalies.) 

“You’re the one killing people for no real reason. Shoot, you even continued doing it knowing that you wouldn't get anywhere. Why? What the heck do you get out of that?” Flowey let out another cackle.

“Ah hah hah hah hah! Because it's fun of course! Seeing you’re pathetic reactions, the reactions of those around you. Ever since you fell, things got boring! So when you found out how to load, I decided to have a little fun.” Frisk looked at the flower, this thing was clearly not a monster. Flowey continued to speak;

“You know, you do have that ability, wouldn't it feel nice to just lash out? Or do things just to see what happens, with no consequence?” Frisk shook her head;

“You really think there isn’t a consequence for what you did?” Frisk sighed, there was no point in explaining how stupid that idea was. Frisk continued to speak;

“So are you done? I mean, it must be boring to see the same thing over and over.” 

“Well, you're not wrong there! But I gotta say, I’m surprised that smiley trashbag didn't kill you yet! After all, you now have the ability I used to make his existence a living hell!” Flowey’s face contorted into a mimicry of Sans’ face, earning a glare from Frisk. 

“You know, those monsters that are always talking behind your back? The ones who hate you? I bet one day they’re gonna kill you, I wonder what you’ll do. You’ll die over and over.” Flowey’s face contorted once more into a grin.

“Until you either give up or finally lash out in frustration. And once you get a taste of the thrill of seeing someone die, you’ll want more. In this world, it’s kill or be killed! You’ll see THAT soon enough!” Flowey laughed once more before disappearing into the ground, but as Frisk walked away Flowey launched a wave of pellets at her from behind, causing Chara to call out; 

(Look out!) as she instinctively rushed to Frisk’s body, forgetting that she was incorporeal. However, something else occurs when she launched towards Frisk’s body. Suddenly her perspective shifted as she fell to the ground in an attempt to dodge the wave. Flowey watched as Frisk stood up and turned towards them, but this time their eyes were red. Flowey looked shocked, to say the least. Chara, however, was confused, what happened? She looked to her side and saw Frisk floating there.

*W-Wait what happened? I can’t feel any part of my body….wait...Chara?*

(Yeah….and I have a physical form again….yours. I think I accidentally switched places with you. Let's get out of here.) Chara glared at Flowey 

“ Nice try,” Chara said with a scoff, her voice sounded different coming from Frisk’s mouth, like both of their voices echoing together. Flowey for once was speechless as Chara piloted Frisk’s body away, and to a secluded part of the forest. 

(Okay, try running into me, that may be how you get your body back.) Frisk did as Chara said, and found herself back in control of her body.

*That felt really weird, but it was fun to be able to fly!*

(Ok yeah, it is kinda fun. We should test this out some once we get this cinnibun to Papyrus.) Frisk nodded in agreement and gave Papyrus his cinnabun.

“WHY THANK YOU FRISK! I WAS STARTING TO GET A LITTLE HUNGRY FOR A SNACK! NYEH HEH HEH!” to which Frisk smiled and chatted with him for a little bit before heading back into the house. Sans was there napping on the couch, and Frisk laid down next to him. 

*Today was exhausting...at least I got a cinnabun out of it.* 

(Hey speaking of… can I try taking control again? I just haven’t eaten anything sweet in a very long time.)

*Okay sure!* Chara thanked Frisk as she took control and began to eat the cinnabun.

*Just try not to wolf it down and give me a tummy ache later.* They both laughed, and after some time, Toriel came in, and Frisk took back over during the baking lessons. Despite everything, today was a good day.


	12. strikeback

After the string of resets, Frisk promised to not load unless she had to for a while. From what Sans would tell, his kid was run ragged from all the loading, so he decided to let her loose for a while, and wouldn't you know it MK’s parents were able to have Frisk spend the night. Naturally, Frisk agreed and the house was quiet. Papyrus was once again at Undyne's, so he had the whole place to himself. He then promptly walked out the door, intending to go to Grillbys. No shortcuts this time, he could use some idle chatter. Unfortunately, this gave Flowey the opening he needed. He popped up behind the unsuspecting skeleton;

“Howdy!” Sans turned and saw Flowey. His eyelights faded out as he glared at the abomination.

**“ huh, so the weed finally decides to show himself? Well, guess i’ll just take care of things now then.”**

“Oh don’t make me laugh, I’ve already killed you enough times to know all your tricks! I simply came here to chat!” Sans snorted

**“ a chat? ok, how's this, leave my kid the hell alone.”**

“Aaaawww you actually do care! Too bad that it won’t be enough, once they start to get….curious.” Sans’ glare became harsher.

**“ the kid ain't a freak like you. and also, unlike you, she actually has a soul.”** Flowey let out an evil cackle;

“Hah, you actually think that a soul has anything to do with it? Golly, you really are an idiot. Once she realizes that she can do what she wants without consequence….what could stop her? You? I doubt that. She might not see things my way yet….but once she gains LV, as soon as she gives in to the curiosity? She won’t be able to get enough.” 

**“ you have about 3 seconds before i turn you into a crater.”**

“And the best part? You’re scared that I'm right! You know that sweet, innocent little Frisk, could turn out just. Like. Me.” 

and with a cackle the flower was gone, leaving Sans standing near his house alone. The weed was just trying to rattle him, but somewhere deep down, a seed of doubt began to grow. The voice posing the question of “would she?” was the same as the one that had kept telling him everything was pointless. His own mind working against him. This became obvious to him now as the nightmares started again. Each night it would be a memory, Flowey torturing Papyrus while keeping Sans tied down, Flowey torturing Sans to get a reaction out of Papyrus, for several days these dreams happened. Eventually Frisk would come back from her sleepover, Greeted by her father and uncle. Eventually, bedtime would arrive, and Frisk would lay down to sleep. Her dreams were plagued with images of Flowey, killing people she loved. Undyne, Papyrus….Sans. Frisk was tossing and turning until Chara was able to wake her up.

(Frisk! Frisk, it’s just a dream, wake up!) Frisk, hearing Chara’s voice, snapped awake with a start, sitting up quickly with a gasp. 

*Thank you Chara….that was a scary one.* 

(Yeah…. Perhaps bunking with your dad might be a good idea, he’s pretty good at calming you down.) Frisk agreed and made her way to his room only to hear noises coming from it.

(sounds like someone else is a bit restless too...) Chara noted as Frisk drew closer to the bedroom door. She could hear the constant shuffling of sheets, the mattress creaking as Sans moved restlessly on it, writhing in a tangle of bedsheets. But what worried her most was...he was crying. Just as well, blue light leaked from under Sans’ left closed eye socket.

**“ no…..no….”**

*I think he’s having a nightmare!*

(Crap, wake him up!)

 

Sans was having one of the worst nightmares he’s had in a long time.  
He was in the judgment hall. Sunlight washed the room in golden light as a silhouette appeared. As it approached, Sans saw it was Frisk only something was wrong. She had a knife in her hands, a disturbing grin that didn't fit her face, and she was covered in dust. 

**“ kid? Why?”** The child cackled

“Because it’s fun! Besides it's not like anyone will remember, I can do whatever I want! You know, Papy and Undyne were fun to play with, but I wanna play with you daddy!” As soon as the last word left her mouth, she charged at him with the knife pointed forward. Suddenly, there was the pain of his ribs snapping from the force of the knife’s swing, blood began to soak his shirt.

“Aw, you’re no fun, oh well. Hey daddy…..daaaaaddy…..” Sans was confused until he felt himself being shaken awake.

“Daddy! “ Frisk cried out, causing Sans to jerk upright with a gasp and his eye blazing. Sans was clutching his chest, and then he looked at Frisk. She….was ok. No dust, she was still in the MMKC pajamas that Alphys got her. His child quickly got onto his bed and wrapped Sans in a hug. With a sigh of relief, Sans returned the hug, holding the child close. 

**“ heh, thanks, kiddo. guess you could say that nightmare left me a little ‘rattled’.”** Frisk smiled at the pun, but there was worry in her voice as she began to speak;

“It must have been a really bad one, You were twisting and turning everywhere, muttering random things in your sleep.” Sans sighed and pressed a kiss on top of Frisk’s head.

**“ yeah, it was, but i'm fine now. thanks, kiddo….hold up what time is it?”** Sans asked looking at the time, it was 2 AM.

**“ frisk what’s got you up now though? couldn't sleep?”** Frisk shook her head

“No...I had a bad dream too.” Sans continued to hold Frisk and leaned back into his pillow, letting the kid lay on top of him along with his blanket.

**“ you wanna talk about it? it might help.”** Frisk nodded, snuggling into the blanket.

“It was about Flowey. In one of the loads he made me do, He hurt Undyne right in front of me. I couldn't do anything and she...she didn’t even turn into dust. She melted, and it was really scary and I was dreaming about everyone melting and..” Sans felt his very soul shudder, the kid had already been through so much. Sans rubbed his hand over Frisk’s hair as he spoke.

**“ that bad huh...geeze kiddo, i'm sorry you got put into a position to even see any of that mess.”** Frisk lifted her head up to look Sans in the eye sockets.

“What was your bad dream about? It looked like it was really scary too.” Sans let out a sigh.

**“ yeah kiddo, it was. I looked in the fridge, and all the ketchup was gone! And there wasn’t anymore in the whole underground! It was awful.”** Frisk giggled at the joke, knowing full well he was trying to distract her.

( seriously? We both know that wasn’t it.)

*I think I know what it was.*

“Nyahahahaha daaaaaad be serious!” Suddenly Frisk’s look turned inquisitive as if she was looking right at his soul. In a softer tone, Frisk asked;

“It was about something Flowey did...wasn’t it?”

**[ damnit the kid’s good, guess i really am rubbing off on them…]**  
 **“ yeah, it was...some bad things he did with his abilities.”** Frisk stretched out her arms and re-wrapped Sans in a hug with a determined look in her eye. 

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that jerk flower anymore! I have the load thingy now and I'm not gonna let him hurt anyone ever again!” Chara floated beside her, smiling.

(The desire to keep your family safe and happy fills you with Determination.) 

Sans’ grin became less strained, more natural;

**“ i know kiddo. hey, we may wanna sleep now, you still gotta go to school in the morning.”**

“Aaaaaw, can’t I stay home? Pleeeeeease?”

**“ kid, if i said yes, tori would have my head on a silver platter.”** Frisk let out a mock sigh

“Fiiiiine...” She said, snuggling more into Sans and falling fast asleep with Sans following not long after. Thankfully no more night terrors came to either of them. 

 

Frisk would save after that night, and over several days Flowey had been busy manipulating monsters into bullying Frisk. With his info, the bullies never got caught, and always escaped before they could get in trouble. Flowey planned to do this until the brat finally lashed out, and there he would take advantage of the situation. Over, and over Frisk would be tripped, shoved, called horrible names, and her patience was wearing thin. Eventually, everything would come out when a Snowdrake continuously shoved and belittled her. Frisk’s temper rose and she finally swung at the monster, not with much intent as she only wanted to do enough to make the monster back off. This was Flowey’s golden opportunity. He saw her fist clench and that's when he threw his pellet attack, hitting the monster and taking out most of its hp just before Frisk’s attack connected. The monster collapsed in a pile of dust, Frisk’s expression shifting to a mixture of shock and horror. As her LV rose she felt... hollow, numb. Her Hp increased and she felt stronger but….it felt so very wrong. She stood there shaking, with her eyes wide as she looked at her now dust covered hand.

Chara, however, saw things from a different perspective. It all happened in an instant, but she saw Flowey pop up behind the monster just before frisk swung. By the time she started to warm Frisk, it was too late. All she could do now was attempt to calm Frisk down as her mind was frozen in horror at her actions. 

(Frisk, listen, that wasn’t your fault.)

*How was it not?! They turned to dust right as I hit them…. I have LV….*

(Frisk just before you swung I saw Flowey behind him, I'm willing to bet that he attacked the monster just enough so that your outburst would be enough to finish the job.)

*Is this what he meant by telling me I’d find out what LV is soon enough? I…..I hate this, I gotta reload…….how am I gonna tell Dad?*

(You tell him what happened, of course, you can’t tell him about me but just say you saw him go underground as soon as the monster went down.) Frisk nodded and slammed her hand on the reload option. As she moved back to her save point, Frisk felt a weight lifted from her chest. She could think clearly again, she didn’t feel so….empty now. However, she knew the hard part was just beginning. She sat in her room waiting for Sans to come knocking on her door.

**“ hey kiddo, knock knock…”**

“Who's there?” Frisk asked, with a noticeable amount of sadness in her tone. Sans could only wonder why this was.

**“ canoe.”**

“Canoe who?”

**“ canoe- let me in?”** Frisk smiled at the joke, but the fact that she wasn’t laughing spoke volumes to Sans. She opened the door, and Sans could tell something was drastically wrong with Frisk. That expression on her face….that's the expression of someone who…...no, it….it had to be something else.

Sans sat on Frisk’s bed and sighed **“ huh, usually a joke like that would have ya rollin. what’s wrong kiddo, somethin happen in that last load?”** Frisk nodded as fresh tears welled up in her eyes.

“So you know how a lot of monsters have been bullying me, calling me names and all that? W-When I went out, I was so tired of being bullied….I got really angry when a snowdrake tried to mess with me by shoving me around.” Frisk was shaking, the memory playing through her mind as Chara spoke.

(It wasn’t your fault Frisk, Flowey took advantage of the situation.) 

*I….I know.*

“A-And after the last shove, I was so mad, I swung to hit the snowdrake. I…..I only wanted him to go away. B-but h-he…….his Hp dropped straight to zero.” Sans’ eye lights shrunk in surprise, this couldn't be right….but that look on her face said otherwise. However, she had more to say;

“When...when the snowdrake fell….I saw Flowey for a second before he went underground…..I know it sounds bad dad but I didn’t want him to die! I think Flowey might have hurt him just in time for my hit to land and….” Frisk was interrupted by a hug. Sans knew that his kid would never intentionally go that far. That damn flower had been planning that this entire time...

**“ alright, it’s okay kiddo, i know you didn’t mean it. it wasn’t your fault, that flower took advantage of the situation.”**

(See? Your dad agrees with me.) Frisk could only return the hug, and cry all over Sans’ shirt;

“ I-I gained LV….” Frisk shuddered, prompting Sans to tighten the hug.

**“ it wasn’t your fault, you didn’t know what was gonna happen.** ” After some time trying to calm Frisk down, Sans had an idea. All he had to do was let Papyrus train her to master her intent. No easy feat, but if anyone could learn it, it would be Frisk, and if anyone could teach it, it would be Papyrus. But he thought “ why stop there?” knowing that kids needed to be active, maybe letting her let off steam with some training from Undyne would do her a world of good too. Frisk was excited at the prospect, and both Papyrus and Undyne were overjoyed that Frisk would be joining them. 

Bedtime arrived, and Frisk was hardly sure she could sleep. Yet sleep did come to her, though perhaps not as restful as she would have liked. Rather than a sweet dream, instead she saw herself, covered in dust with a dagger. Standing over various monsters such as Undyne and Papyrus. Then they were in the golden hall, with Sans standing in the middle.

**“ it's a beautiful day outside…..the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, on days like these, kids like you…..”** Frisk watched as an observer at first, but then found herself in first person, staring right at Sans as his eyes had turned into a dark glare.

**“ should be burning in hell….”** a flash of white and then, nothing. Frisk bolted upright with Chara looking worried.

( Frisk, holy crap I tried to wake you up but you couldn't hear me.) 

*That dream….* 

( None of that is real Frisk, just your brain dealing with the stress today has had on you.) Frisk was too tired to argue, and thankfully the rest of her sleep would be dreamless, though short-lived as a certain loud skeleton was getting ready to get Frisk up early.


	13. of training and pie making

“HUMAN IT IS TIME TO AWAKEN!” Papyrus called out, causing the child to jolt upright.

“W-wha?” Frisk replied groggily as she sat up 

“IT’S TIME TO GET THOSE BONES SHAKING! OUR TRAINING WITH UNDYNE STARTS IN A COUPLE OF HOURS! NYEH HEH HEH!”Frisk smiled and rubbed her eyes;

“Okay, I’m up…..mostly,” Papyrus responded by lifting the child out of bed, carrying her to the kitchen. After breakfast, they made their way to Undyne, who was standing outside with her arms crossed.

“‘Hey punks!” Frisk ran up and hugged Undyne;

“Hiya aunty!” Undyne grinned and picked up the child in a bear hug.

“ You’re gonna love this first bit! Before we spar, Papyrus and I run a hundred laps around the underground! Papyrus, you get the added challenge of running while carrying Frisk!” Papyrus gave a salute 

“AH, YOUR CHALLENGE IS ACCEPTED!” Papyrus picked up Frisk, putting her on his shoulders piggyback style.

“ARE YOU READY?” Frisk giggled

“Yeah!” 

Undyne responded with a grin;

“Fuhuhuhu! I'm ready whenever you nerds are! Ready, set, GO!” And with that, the trio was off. Frisk laughed as Undyne and Papyrus moved with incredible speed, the scenery around her blurring and changing rapidly. Their laps ended quickly and as Papyrus sat Frisk down, she began to stumble.

“Wooooah hehe that was fun!”

“Heck yeah! Nothing like a good warm-up running exercise!” Undyne shouted.

“SO THEN SHALL WE GET TO SPARING UNDYNE?” 

“Da…..rn right! We should find a safe spot for Frisk to watch though.”

“HMM, AN INTERESTING CONUNDRUM. PERHAPS SHE SHOULD WATCH FROM THE PATH THAT LEADS TO YOUR HOUSE? SHE CAN CHEER US ON FROM THERE!” Frisk nodded in agreement and chose her spot. Papyrus took some time to explain what would happen. 

“SO FRISK, THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD KNOW IS THAT SPARRING IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM FIGHTING. WHILE OUR ATTACKS MAY LOOK COOL AND DANGEROUS, THE LACK OF INTENT RENDERS THEM HARMLESS! OBSERVE!” Frisk watched as Papyrus sent his first volley of bones at Undyne. She maneuvered around all of the bones with skill and ease, only to be tripped up by a small but well-placed bone to catch her foot, only taking off one point of HP. Undyne gave Papyrus a look before grinning.

“Not bad Papyrus, my turn!” Undyne turned Papyrus’ soul green, rooting him to the spot, and in response, a bone staff appeared in the skeleton’s hands. Spears launched themselves at Papyrus from all sides, yet Papyrus was able to deftly deflect them all. Frisk and Chara were stunned by what they had just seen.

“Wooooooah, nice one uncle Pappy!” Papyrus gave a hearty “NYEH HEH HEH!” as he launched his next attack. After a few turns, Undyne opted to end it there.

“Alright, enough warming up! Papyrus you are a lot better at holding back than I am, so maybe you should be the one to help Frisk on how to handle magic attacks.” Papyrus nodded, but Frisk looked nervous;

“W-Wait you mean….I gotta fight Pappy?” Undyne walked over and patted Frisk’s shoulder 

“Yup! Don’t worry punk Pap is a lot tougher than he looks, I am the one who trained him after all! Besides, intent affects how much damage you would actually do if you land a hit. Even if you did, it might do….I dunno maybe 20 hp? It wouldn't do much, so you don’t gotta hold back!” Frisk still looked nervous, so Papyrus started out small. 

“HERE, A VERY BASIC BONE ATTACK.” two small bones jutted out of the ground and moved towards Frisk, who stepped around them without much trouble. Undyne leaned against a wall with her arms crossed, grinning as she watched. 

“NICELY DONE FRISK, IT IS YOUR TURN. KEEP IN MIND, IT’S NOT HOW HARD YOU SWING, BUT HOW MUCH YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO DO DAMAGE.”

“B-But I don’t wanna do any….”

“EXACTLY! YOU DON’T WANT TO, THEREFORE YOU WON’T DO ANY SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE.” 

(Basically just fake hit him.) 

“Okay…” Frisk walked over and threw a fake hit, noticing that she didn’t do any damage.

“SEE? NO DAMAGE WHATSOEVER! THOUGH MAYBE NEXT TIME TRY A REAL ATTACK! PREPARE YOURSELF!” Frisk stood ready as Papyrus launched another small volley of bones at Frisk. She did her best to avoid all of them, only for one to hit her in the stomach. However….it felt like she just got poked rather than hit with an attack.

“Hehehe that tickles!” 

“NYEH HEH HEH, A VALIANT ATTEMPT FRISK!” The two continued on in this manner throughout the day. After a few hours, Papyrus received a text from Sans:

“ hey bro, tori came over 2 get a pie ready for when you and frisk get back.” Papyrus sighed at the fact that his brother was seriously too lazy to type out t-o. However, what Papyrus was thinking on was the fact that.Sans and Toriel were alone in the house.Perhaps he should find other ways to train Frisk so Sans and Toriel can have some quality time with each other.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

A couple hours after Frisk and Papyrus left, Sans had finally awoken. He made his way through the quiet house wondering what he was going to do today, when a knock was heard at the door, Toriel’s voice coming from behind. 

“Knock knock!” 

**“ who’s there?”**

“Etch.”

 **“ etch who?”**

“Bless you, friend!” Sans gave a light chuckle;

 **“ oh man, that one was good.”** He said as he opened the door.

 **“ sup tori?”** Toriel smiled, looking down at San’s eye sockets, still glistening from her joke. 

“Greetings friend, I was wondering if today would be alright for teaching Frisk more about baking?’ Sans rubbed the back of his skull 

**“ well, i'm sure the kid would love that, but right now pap and undyne are takin her out to watch them train and learn a couple things herself.”** Toriel looked surprised as she was let in.

“What? Why would Frisk need to train in anything pertaining to what Papyrus and Undyne do?” Sans sighed in response. 

**“ well, the bullyin problem has increased, and this time they're gettin more clever about it. shovin frisk from behind and runnin before she can see them, or doin somethin from afar where they can’t be seen.”** Toriel gasped 

“Why that is absolutely horrid!” Sans nodded 

**“ yeah, and well, frisk may be just a kid….but she’s also human, which means that if she were to get mad enough, she could do somethin that she wouldn't normally do.”** Toriel nodded;

“ I see, therefore you have Frisk training with Papyrus and Undyne to let off any steam, and in the process teach her a proper way to protect herself. I take it Papyrus and Undyne were happy with this.” Sans chuckled 

**“ are ya kiddin? they were ecstatic to have frisk with em. i uh, don’t think they will be back for a good while.”** Toriel hummed in thought

“Perhaps then we should make a meal ourselves? I'm sure that Frisk will have had a very busy day.” Sans’ grin widened;

**“ sounds good to me, the kiddo loves comin home to the smell of dessert.”**

“Excellent! I take it you still have the ingredients I brought over?” Sans responded with a nod;

**“ yup, i would have made somethin with it, but i’d much rather ‘chile’ out.”**

Toriel giggled at the pun, and retaliated with a pun of her own; 

“Well, I could certainly show you some ‘oregano’ ideas!” 

**“ huh, guess that would really ‘ spice’ things up huh?”** Both of them broke into a fit of laughter, before eventually getting out what they needed to start a pie. Sans started on the pie filling, while Toriel prepared the crust.

 **“ huh, you sure know how to put a recipe together.”** Toriel smiled as she made the dough;

“Why thank you, though I cannot take all the credit. I had an excellent little helper. Asriel always liked to add something new.” Toriel stopped kneading the dough, a sad smile appearing on her face. “ This particular one was always one of his favorites.” Sans nodded 

**“ well then, asriel has great taste. speakin of, wanna check out the filling? i think i got it right, but could always use a second opinion.”**

Toriel smiled and agreed, taking a small taste of the mix. 

“Oh my, excellently done Sans, I would even say it is quite…..SANS-ational?” Sans let out another laugh;

 **“ i guess you could even say it’s…….tori-fic?”** and once more the two of them were laughing loudly. Once they collected themselves and placed the pie in the oven, the two moved over to the couch to watch some T.V while they waited. Of course, nothing of much interest was on, but it made great background noise for them just talking. 

“So, I have noticed Frisk enjoys hanging around MK a lot more recently.” Sans chuckled;

**“ heh, yeah those two are nigh inseparable.”**

Toriel smiled in thought, a story coming to her mind

“Actually, it reminds me a lot of my children. Chara and Asriel always were up to something. One time they made an entire field of echo flowers in waterfall say one word….’butts’.” She said that last word with a serious tone and that made it all the more hilarious to Sans. He cackled and clapped his hands;

 **“ oh man, that’s amazing holy crap. frisk has had a bit of a prankster streak herself, no idea who could have influenced that.”** Toriel squinted at him;

“Oh, do you not? Perhaps it was a certain pun-loving skeleton with a good sense of humor.”

 **“ huh, no idea who that could be.”** Sans pulled out his phone, sending a text to Papyrus. **“ just sent pap a text, he’ll be bringin the kid in a little bit.”**

Toriel smiled, and the two talked and joked. Even as Toriel took the pie from the oven to cool, the two were chatting away and time flew by. By the time a few hours passed, Toriel looked at the clock.

“Sans, I thought you said Papyrus was on his way?” It was Sans’ turn to look at the clock, and responded with a shrug;

 **“ eh, maybe they lost track of time too.”** Toriel was inclined to agree, when the door suddenly opened, revealing Papyrus and Frisk. Toriel Greeted Frisk with a smile.

“Greetings Frisk! I must say your arrival was timely indeed.” Papyrus squinted at Toriel. Frisk smiled and ran up to Toriel, giving her a hug. 

“WHY DO I FEEL LIKE YOU JUST MADE A PUN?”

Toriel gave a light laugh “Oh, no reason. We have a pie ready for us to eat, it should be cool enough by now.”  
Frisk cheered and made her way to the kitchen. The group ate their pie, and frisk discussed her day. Frisk recounted various things Papyrus showed her, from various cool attack patterns to proper dodging techniques. After their meal Toriel had offered to assist with the dishes but was shooed out by Papyrus.

“LADY TORIEL YOU ARE OUR GUEST, I SHALL HANDLE THE DISHES. SANS AND FRISK USUALLY WATCH SOME T.V AROUND NOW, YOU SHOULD JOIN THEM!” 

Toriel hummed in thought “Well if you insist Papyrus, and that does indeed sound fun.” Papyrus beamed at her and then went to his dish cleaning. Toriel made her way to the living room, with Sans and Frisk sitting on the couch watching a poorly done comedy bit from an MTT special. 

“Do you two have room for one more?” 

Frisk nodded eagerly “Yeah, here!” Frisk patted the cushion to her right. Toriel smiled as she sat by Frisk.

“So what is this show?” 

Sans turned in response, sitting on the leftmost couch cushion.

 **“ it's a comedy sketch mettaton tried. frisk and i like to poke fun at it by coming up with way better jokes.”**

Toriel listened to the comedy in the background and found that Sans was definitely right. “Yes, I can see that the humor needs a lot of work.” As Frisk watched the show, seated between both Sans, and Toriel, she briefly wondered if this was what having a mom was like.

( Well, kinda. She certainly cares about you, but I do not know about her and Sans getting together.)

*I hope they do, she really makes both of us really happy.*

(Well, I cannot fault you for that.)

As the show went on, the three laughed and joked, and as they did so Toriel felt something she had not felt in a long time. A warmth in her soul that she got every time she saw Sans and Frisk. She had to shake that thought from her mind, thinking she was merely being a silly, lonely old woman. Eventually, it became Frisk’s bedtime, but before going, she had one last request;

“Hey daddy, could you maybe read me a bedtime story?” 

Sans got up and ruffled Frisk’s hair **“ sure kiddo, which one?”**

Frisk grinned excitedly;“The space one! Do you think….both you and Miss Tori could read it to me?” 

Sans’s eyelights shrunk in surprise and looked over to Toriel, who was offering a gentle smile. 

“That would be wonderful, If you do not mind that is, Sans?” 

A light dusting of blue graced his cheekbones as he shrugged **“ ok, looks like you got us both tonight kiddo.”** Frisk cheered and went to the bedroom. Sans and Toriel took turns reading to Frisk, and she had the most peaceful sleep she’s had in awhile.


	14. Secrets abound

Frisk woke up the next morning with a yawn, looking over to Chara floating around;

( Turns out the key to a good night's sleep for you is a good bedtime story.) 

Frisk smiled; *Yeah, it was really nice. So, what should we do today?* 

Chara hummed in thought; (Well, remember that brief period where we switched places? I think I would like to try that again, perhaps eat some sweets, Well only if you are okay with it of course) 

*Actually that sounds like a good idea, we really haven't really played around with that much. Could be fun! I did kinda want to have an anime binge with auntie Alphys, and see if I can’t get her to FINALLY confess to Undyne.* 

Chara laughed; ( What, are you a matchmaker now? First your dad and Toriel, now Undyne and Alphys? Frisk I believe Alphys may be rubbing off on you.) 

Frisk simply responded with a raspberry before proceeding to the bathroom to change clothes. Once she was done, she looked at the mirror;

*Okay Chara, I'm set.* 

Chara nodded and flew to Frisk, causing the two to switch places. Frisk’s eyes turned bright red, surprising the both of them. Chara spoke, her voice still belonging to Frisk, but the tone was different;

(Oh crap our eyes change color...) 

Frisk was busy performing loopty loops before seeing what Chara was talking about; 

*Woooooah, that’s so cool!* 

( I think we should switch back till we get out of the house, this kind of change would be something your dad would notice. ) 

*Yeah, everyone else would just think it was a trick of the light, or that humans can change their eye color.* The two switched. Frisk, after eating breakfast, asked Sans if it was okay for her to go for some sweets and to visit Alphys. He agreed and the child was off, but something was odd. Just before she left Sans could have sworn Frisk’s eyes turned red. He shook it off, however, writing it off as a trick of the light.

Chara piloted Frisk’s body through Snowdin, enjoying the feelings she had gone a long time without. The cold of Snowdin, the warmth of Grillby’s, followed by giving obligatory pets to the dog squad before they went about their rounds. After the visit, Chara visited the nearby shop, acquiring a cinnabunny. It felt so soft and warm, and the smell made her mouth water. How long since she had something sweet? She bit into it and then within a few seconds the treat was gone. Frisk sighed; 

*You’re supposed to eat it, not inhale it.* 

(Hush. I have not eaten anything in well over a century.)

*Yeah but you keep doing that I'm gonna get a stomach ache.* 

(Fair point.) Chara wandered through the underground until she got to Hotland, where she and Frisk switched to their rightful places. 

(Well, that was fun...Now to binge watch all the anime.) Frisk nodded as she knocked on the door, wearing a mischievous grin.

“Hey Auntie, knock knock!” 

Alphys knew Frisk was on her way and smiled when she heard the knocks, Sans really rubbed off on the kid. “W-Who’s there?”

“Double!”

“D-Double who?”

“W!” 

Alphys laughed, giving a little snort as she did so;   
“Hahaha, w-wow Frisk, th-that was pretty clever!” She opened the door and was promptly hugged. 

“Hiya aunty!” Alphys returned the hug 

“Hiya to you too, Frisk.” The two broke from their hug and Alphys lead Frisk inside.

“S-So um, I got a couple things to g-get from my room, then we can start our anime binge!” Frisk nodded as Alphys went upstairs. She decided to look around, and looked at the elevator;

* I wonder where this goes…*

( only one way to find out! I'm sure it's just a basement full of anime anyway.) Frisk smiles as she enters the elevator and pushes the button. The elevator lowered, bringing the two down into a darkened room. Chara gave a quick look around trying to figure out what this area was.

(What is this place?) 

*It…..looks like….a different part of the lab?* 

( Looks like it, we should look around.) Frisk agreed and walked around exploring the halls, with an occasional screen turning on, upon closer inspection they were research logs with multiple entries.

 

" This is it, time to do what the king asked of me. I will attempt to create the power needed to free us all. I will work to unleash the power of the soul. The barrier is locked by soul power, unfortunately, the power cannot be recreated artificially. It can only be derived from once living beings. So, with that said, we will use what we have now, the souls of monsters. However, to extract a living monster's soul would require an incredible amount of power. Aside from being impractical, doing so would destroy the soul's host, and unlike human souls, The souls of most monsters disappear immediately upon death. If only I could make a monster's soul able to last longer."  
"Entry number 5: I've done it. From the strange blueprints I found, I have successfully extracted it from the human souls. I believe this is what gives the human souls the ability to persist after death. The will to keep living, the will to change fate, Let's call this substance….DETERMINATION."

Frisk's eyes went wide as she backed up a few steps; * Wait….determination is how I'm able to make save points...she could actually do something to use it?*

( There are probably more logs around the place.) and with heightened curiosity, Frisk continued, finding another room was at the end of the hall. The room had three doors, and upon inspection, she found one was labeled power room;  
( huh, better to stay away from that, could be dangerous electrical stuff in there.) Frisk nodded and tried the door to the far right, but it looked to be completely stuck, so she went to the other room instead. In this room, there was another log entry.  
"Asgore asked everyone outside the city for monsters that had "Fallen down." A term we monsters use when a monster goes comatose, caused by lack of HoPe or HP, Monsters that start to lose HoPe are more willing to give up, and eventually, they fall down. Their bodies came in today, but soon they will turn to dust. But, what would happen if I gave them some "Determination"? If their souls persist after death…Freedom might be closer than we think!"  
" Things aren't going well, none of the bodies have turned into dust, so I can't get the souls. I told the families I would give the dust back for the funerals. People are starting to ask about what's happening, what do I do?” 

*I wonder what happened next…* Frisk thought as she walked around, finding a set of sinks in the corner. 

*Huh, I wonder if these work, I am kinda thirsty….* Frisk turned on the faucet, only for a strange goopy creature to appear out of it. 

“Aasdfghjklqwertyuiopzxcvbnm” Frisk had no idea what the heck this creature said, but a text from an unknown number appeared on her phone. Upon checking it, the phone read;

“CoMe JoIn ThE fUn…” 

“Um...i-I'm not sure who you are, are you a friend of Alphys?”

“AlPhYs…..HuMaN….HeRe…...FrIsK?” 

“So you do know her? And she told you about me?”

“YeS….OtHeRs InSiDe….gO JoIn ThE fUn.” Frisk nodded as the strange goopy looking monster floated away.

(Well that was seriously creepy. Didn’t look like any monster I’ve ever seen.)

*Yeah but it could just be that you just never seen this type before, or they’re a newer form of monster.*

Chara shrugged as Frisk continued through the lab, coming across more log entries.

“Entry number 12: Nothing is happening, I don't know what to do. I'll just continue the injections, I want this to work.”

“Entry number 13: One of the bodies opened its eyes.” 

(oooooookay so far all of this is creepy.)

*Yeah...but that means Alphys saved them!*

( I do not know about that….something feels off.) Frisk kept walking, coming across a resting area full of beds, and a dog bowl.

(Guess that's why Alphys has a large back of dog food….but why does she have a dog?) Frisk shrugged as she moved on to the fourteenth log entry;

“Everyone that had fallen down has woken up! They're all walking around and talking as if nothing was wrong, I thought they were goners…."

*See? Alphys saved everyone!* 

( I still feel like something is off….we should keep looking around.) Frisk continued to another hallway with more entries.

"Seems like this research was a dead end, but at least we got a happy ending out of it. I've sent the souls and the vessel back to Asgore, and the patients should return to their families tomorrow." However, the entry switched to an audio file, with Alphys voice getting closer and then further away.

"No nO NO NONONO NO No no no…."

( Called it.)

*Oh….what went wrong then?* 

( Well, the monsters that fell down got up, but monsters are only supposed to have so much determination….perhaps something went wrong because they had too much.) Frisk hummed in thought as she entered a room with a large machine resembling a skull, labeled as a DT extractor. Frisk noted that this had to be what Alphys used to get the determination from the human souls. Nearby she saw what looked like a save point, yet as Frisk approached it, the star transformed into an amalgamation of various monsters, most notably Shyren, Moldbygg, and Aaron. The creature looked Frisk over and began speaking with many voices at once, but they all sounded clear as day;

“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”“Frisk? Why are you here? Lost?”

Frisk was startled by the voices speaking in unison, but she was able to get herself to speak;   
“Um...kinda? I found the elevator,” the amalgamate nodded before responding; 

“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”“ I can show you around, Better to not go alone.”

Frisk gave a warm smile “Okay, thank you….um what’s your name?”

“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.”“Lemon Bread.” 

“Well, nice to meet you Lemon bread! So, are there others to meet?” The amalgamate nodded and beckoned Frisk to follow. As the two neared another room, loud banging noises could be heard;

“ Endogeny is excited, wait here, I will calm them down.”“ Endogeny is excited, wait here, I will calm them down.”“ Endogeny is excited, wait here, I will calm them down.”“ Endogeny is excited, wait here, I will calm them down.”“ Endogeny is excited, wait here, I will calm them down.”“ Endogeny is excited, wait here, I will calm them down.”“ Endogeny is excited, wait here, I will calm them down.”“ Endogeny is excited, wait here, I will calm them down.”“ Endogeny is excited, wait here, I will calm them down.”“ Endogeny is excited, wait here, I will calm them down.”“ Endogeny is excited, wait here, I will calm them down.”“ Endogeny is excited, wait here, I will calm them down.”“ Endogeny is excited, wait here, I will calm them down.”

Frisk nodded as the amalgamate went ahead. She noticed another doorway that happened to lead to a room with a television set and an assortment of tapes. Some of them were rather sticky. There was a nearby entry on the wall that read; 

" Entry number 4: I have been researching humans for info about their souls, I ended up snooping around the castle and found these weird tapes. I don't feel like Asgore has seen them….I don't think he should." Frisk felt Chara tense. Guilt, worry, but why? Frisk found a set of tapes in order from 1 to 5.   
(Frisk, I do not think you want to know what’s on those tapes….) 

*It's okay, I’ll shut it off if they get too bad.*

(Frisk, that is not what I-) however Chara’s protest came too late, and the first tape was popped in. 

“Pssst Gorey, wake up.”

“Hm? What is it, dear? Err, and why do you have that video camera?”

*Hey…..that's miss Tori’s voice! Are she and Asgore married?*

( ….They were when I was alive.) Frisk listened to the rest of the tape.

“Shush! I want to get your reaction. Gorey, dearest, what is my favorite vegetable?”

“Hmmm...Carrots right?”

“....Go back to bed, dear.”

“No no, not yet! If I were a dog, what breed would I be?”

“Hm...I don’t know honey, what kind of dog would you be?”

“I would be a….MOMeranian!” 

“Hohohohoho, you sure are excited to have this child. You know, if you keep making jokes like this...one day you could be a famous MOMedian.”

“....well, I am going to bed”

“Hey! Come on, Tori! That one was funny!”

“Hahahahahaha I know. I am just teasing you. Goodnight, dear.”

“Goodnight, honey.”

“Oh dear, perhaps it is too dark in here for the video to come out….”

*Wow, miss tori doesn't pull punches.*

(Savage.)

* Let's see the next one!* Frisk thought as she popped the second video in, which began with a voice that made Chara freeze in place, the guilt seemed to be growing?   
“Okay Chara, are you ready? Do your creepy face! AAAAAh! Hehehehe, oh wait no, I had the lens cap on! What? You’re not gonna do it again? C’mon quit tricking me, hahaha!”

Ghostly tears ran down Chara’s cheeks as Frisk turned to Chara with a shocked expression. 

*Chara? Who was that? What’s wrong?*

(That…...that was Asriel. He was…...my best friend.)

*Okay but why are you so sad? Did something bad happen?* However Frisk could feel that Chara REALLY didn’t want to talk about it. Instead of prying, Frisk popped in the third tape;

“Hey, Chara, look over here! Ha! This time I got YOU! I left the lens cap on on purpose! Now you’re smiling for noooooooo reason, hehehehe! What? Oh, yeah, I remember. When we tried to make butterscotch pie for dad right? The recipe asked for cups of butter, but we accidentally put in buttercups instead. Yeah! Those flowers got him really sick. I felt so bad, we made mom really upset. I should have laughed it off, like you did...um, anyway where are you going with this? Huh? Turn off the camera? Okay.” Frisk tilted her head

( I was such an idiot….. Of course, I laughed, because of just how dumb the mistake was.)

*To be fair, that sounds like a mistake I’d make too. Let's see what the next one has to say.* Chara frowned and crossed her arms, looking away from Frisk as she popped in the fourth video. 

“I….I don’t like this idea, Chara. Wh...what? N-No I'm not...big kids don't cry. Yeah, you’re right. No! I’d never doubt you Chara! Never! Y….Yeah! We’ll be strong, we’ll free everyone! I’ll go get the flowers!” Chara’s eyes widened in horror;

( Frisk….do not touch that fifth tape. Please.)

*Chara…..that plan….you didn’t…..*

(Frisk, I am begging you please do not put that last tape in.) 

*...It's better that I know for sure….* Chara wanted to take control of Frisk and make her go somewhere else, but she knew that it would only cause more problems. Frisk put in the final tape. The video started with Toriel’s voice, worried and fearful;

“ Chara….can you hear me? We want you to wake up…” Asgore spoke next, his words a plea for the child;

“Chara! You have to stay determined! You can’t give up…..you are the future of humans and monsters…” and lastly came Asriel, speaking in a hushed tone;

“Pssst, Chara….please...wake up...I don’t like this plan anymore. I…..no, I said...I said I would never doubt you. Six right? We just have to get six, and we’ll do it together, right?” The video cut off and Frisk put two and two together. Toriel used to be the queen, and Asriel and Chara were her and Asgore’s kids…..

*Chara…..why would you do that to yourself?*

( It…..was supposed to free everyone…..the plan was for asriel to take my soul, cross the barrier, and take the souls of humans from my village, ones who were…...well, they were not good people Frisk. They hurt me, badly. I saw no problem with going down there and using their lives to break the barrier because all of the monsters had more right to the sun than those….idiots. But….Asriel refused to hurt anyone. Because of my plan…..both of us wound up dying. Somehow, something happened to split mom and dad up... I'm still not sure what happened, but I wonder if it has to do with the other 5 souls that dad collected.) Frisk promptly walked to where Chara was floating and gave her the closed thing to a hug that Frisk could do for a ghost. With her arms still wrapped in a circle around the area Chara was, she spoke;

*....we should talk to Alphys, maybe she can fill in the blanks.* Chara nodded, and then footsteps were heard out in the hall. Frisk walked out of the room to see Lemonbread approaching with a dog like amalgamation;

(How many dogs does that count as?) Frisk smiled as the dog ran up to her, greeting her with….nuzzles? Something like that? Its body felt goopy, solid and yet, not. The amalgamate let out several barks, running up and down the walls. Once endogeny calmed down again, the three went to a room full of plants. According to the logs, Alphys had tried using them as vessels to house both monster and human souls if injected with enough DT. The experiment, however, failed. As the group walked through the room, another amalgamate appeared, a combination of astigmatism, Whimsalot, and Madjick. The monster spoke, but its words were jumbled and Frisk could not tell what the monster said. Lemon bread turned to Frisk to translate; 

“Reaper Bird says hello. They can’t talk well.”“Reaper Bird says hello. They can’t talk well.”“Reaper Bird says hello. They can’t talk well.”“Reaper Bird says hello. They can’t talk well.”“Reaper Bird says hello. They can’t talk well.”“Reaper Bird says hello. They can’t talk well.”“Reaper Bird says hello. They can’t talk well.”“Reaper Bird says hello. They can’t talk well.”“Reaper Bird says hello. They can’t talk well.”“Reaper Bird says hello. They can’t talk well.”“Reaper Bird says hello. They can’t talk well.”“Reaper Bird says hello. They can’t talk well.”

Frisk smiled; “ Nice to meet you Reaper Bird!” The amalgamate smiled? As far as Frisk could tell anyway, and floated off after speaking more in its mash-up of voices;

“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys”“They’re going to get Alphys” 

Frisk nodded, and the group moved on, soon entering a room full of refrigerators and near the center of the room was what looked to be a…..snowdrake and two vegetoids melted together. The monster looked at Frisk and the child froze, barely getting out a greeting;

“Uh….h-hi….” Endogeny let out a multi-bark as Lemon Bread greeted the amalgamate. The snowdrake walked up to Frisk.

“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”“Hello Mrs. Drake.”

Hearing this name caused Frisk to gasp; “Wait...Mrs. Drake? Like as in...Snowy’s mom?”

“…..Frisk? “Alphys….talks about you….often.” 

“I'm confused….How are you here? Snowy told me that you...fell down. What happened? From what the logs said, Alphys tried to help people here, but something went wrong.” The dog amalgamation gave a soft whimper as the snowdrake spoke;

“ Tried….to help...we fell down…Alphys….did what she could…..but when we woke up…...we melted….too much...dt... She keeps us….down here….she’s….afraid.”

“She’s scared? Why? All she did was try to help?” 

“ Scared….others would be….angry….that she….would be….hated.” 

Frisk tilted her head in confusion;  
“But….why would they? If you were falling down, Alphys was just doing all she could to help! It's not like she could have known what would happen.” The snowdrake nodded;

“We...do not blame her...so…..you know….snow….y?” Frisk nodded;

“Yeah, he tells a lot of ice jokes, He’s one of my friends!”

“Is he…..okay?” Frisk gave the monster a warm smile;

“Well, he is mostly, he just...really misses you. I know what that feels like.” Frisk looked down as she said the last statement; the snowdrake walked over to Frisk, putting a wing on her shoulder.

“ Alphys….told us. Your mother…..would be….so proud.” Tears pricked Frisk’s eyes as Alphys’ voice echoed through the hall;

“F-Frisk?!” In response, frisk shouted back;

“In here aunty!” the sound of claws quickly tapping on the floor was heard, and Alphys entered the room, seeing Frisk surrounded by the amalgamates.

“O-Oh...you’ve already met them. I-I suppose you have questions.” Frisk nodded;

“I saw the entry things, from those, you tried to help monsters that fell down, monsters that, without your help, would have died anyway. But….something about the determination caused them to turn all goopy and melt together. Why would you keep them all down here though? You didn’t do anything wrong!” Alphys started to sweat;

“N-Nothing wrong? F-Frisk I ruined these monsters lives, I-If I w-were to….the others would hate me…..” Frisk shook her head;

“No, they wouldn't. They’d be happy that they have their family back. Snowy would get to see his mom again…..I know i’d be happy to see my mom.” Alphys locked eyes with Frisk, and she sighed;

“Frisk…..”;

“And if you keep hiding, you’re only making yourself worry more, it’s what happens when you lie, you have to constantly worry about being found out.” Alphys gave a quiet chuckle;

“When th-the heck did you get that sm-smart?” 

“I learned it from you! And Daddy, and Pappy, and miss Tori, and aunty Undyne!” 

“W-Well, you’re certainly r-right Frisk….it’s time these guys went home…. let's get everyone out of here.” Frisk nodded as the group went back up to Alphys’ main lab. Along the way, Frisk came across two new log entries, talking about a special flower that came from the surface being injected with determination as all the others had….and a log entry noting that the flower disappeared. 

*Wait….but….that could mean….alphys made Flowey? B-but how? What would have been different about that one flower when none of the others became Floweys?* Chara felt the realisation dawn on her;

 

(When...When Asriel absorbed my soul, he took my body to a flower patch in my village….the humans attacked, but Asriel made it home. He….we both died, collapsing into dust over the garden….the only difference between the Flowers Alphys initially used, and this flower from the surface would be…..that the surface flower grew from Asriel’s dust. But whatever that thing is, It is not him.) Frisk nodded in understanding, opting to drop the subject, there was nothing either of them could do with that information.

The process of getting everyone back to their families took some time, and saving the best for last, frisk and Alphys brought Snowy’s mom to her home. The reveal seemed to have the father in shock, though not as big of a shock as Snowy got when they were all let in. Snowy cheered and Frisk watched as the family laughed and bonded, all in all, it was an eventful day, but it wasn’t over yet. Because of what Frisk saw in the labs, both she and Chara had questions. Eventually Frisk went home, to find Papyrus and Toriel happily making food, with Toriel giving Papyrus slight nudges in the right direction. Just as well, her father was on the couch snoozing. Frisk walked up to Sans, giving his cheekbone a poke. Sans woke with a grunt, and opened one eye socket;

**“ heya kiddo, so, you’ve been busy huh?”** Frisk responded with a nod;

“ Yeah, but um...there’s something I need to ask you, but….privately.” Sans shrugged and agreed, teleporting the two to his room;

**“ so what’s up babybones?”**

“When I was down in Alphys’ lower lab, I found out….that miss Tori and Asgore used to be together….and that they had kids of their own.” Sans’ eyes went dark, but Frisk could tell from his expression that it was more shock than anything else. His eyelights returned as he spoke;

**“ i see, wasn’t really expecting ya to learn that story quite yet. so what do you wanna know?”**

“I know What happened to Asriel and Chara, but….what happened to make miss Tori mad at Asgore?” Sans let out a sigh;

**“ that’s kind of a loaded question kiddo. you see, once Asriel absorbed Chara’s soul, he came back…..and died. Both tori and asgore devastated, of course. in his anger towards the humans, the big guy declared war on all of humanity, somethin tori didn’t like one bit. she didn’t just up and leave him though, she stayed, arguin with him for months until one day…..a human kid fell down here, and asgore took their soul.”** Frisk looked surprised;

“What? Asgore wouldn't do that! ….were they bad?” Sans shook his head;

**“ nah, not that one, at least, that anyone has heard of. asgore wanted to give us hope of one day making it to the surface, which meant that even if it was kids fallin down here…..he would have to take their souls. ‘course, that all changed when you and your mother fell down here.”**

“....Why would that change anything?”

**“ because you were just a baby, frisk. you weren’t even old enough to crawl, ain't no one here sick enough to do that. in our eyes, you are just as much one of us as any other monster.”** Frisk had one more question to ask;

“ were they all kids?” Sans nodded;

**“ unfortunately, yeah. asgore….ain't proud of what he’s done kiddo. he knows that he's doing somethin horrible, as good as his intentions are. to make matters worse, tori had locked herself in the ruins. she tried to keep them all with her, but they all left. She didn't want to see people who were once kind to chara turn into the kind of monsters like the ones who have been giving you a hard time just for bein human.”** Throughout all of this, Chara was quiet. Frisk could feel the shock, the sheer disbelief;

(…..dad….how could you?) Before more could be said, Papyrus’ loud voice rang from downstairs;

 

“SANS, FRISK, DINNER IS READY!” prompting Sans to chuckle.

**“ well, suppose we should get down there. let's lighten the mood a little.”** Frisk nodded as the two popped back downstairs. Spaghetti was served and it was surprisingly edible. Once again Frisk, Sans, and Toriel exchanged jokes at Papyrus’ expense, and once more, Frisk got Sans and Toriel to read to her again. As Frisk drifted off, Sans pressed a kiss on her forehead;

**“ good night, babybones.”** Toriel couldn't help but smile as she and Sans walked out of the room, quietly shutting the door. Once they made it to the living room, Toriel turned to Sans.

“So it would seem that Frisk has had an eventful day. Forgive me if this is prying a little too much, but I noticed you and Frisk disappeared for a bit. Is everything alright?” Sans nodded;

**“ yeah, just….frisk found things out before they should have. she….knows what happened between you and asgore, and the other humans.”** Toriel’s face fell;

“I-I see.” 

**“ but frisk is a smart kid, she just wanted to know the full story rather than going off of the bits she found out. ‘course, she was surprised to find out what asgore chose to do, but i think she understands….anywho though looks like the kiddo roped us into reading to her again.”** Toriel’s frown turned into a smile, she was thankful for the change in topic;

“It would seem so! Frisk is rather good at getting what she wants, is she not?” Sans snorted;

**“ are ya kiddin? It’s hard enough to say no to her, but the stuff she usually wants isn’t really worthy of a no. kid seems to know the limits of things like i said, frisk is pretty darn bright for her age, and that’s no fibula.”** Toriel couldn't help but laugh, and they exchanged puns for a while until Toriel decided to retire for the evening.


	15. no longer 'sans' a mother

Months passed, the amalgamates were living happily with their families, and just as Frisk predicted, everyone understood why Alphys did what she did. Frisk noticed that after the secret was out, Alphys looked….better. The dark circles she usually had under her eyes were gone, and she just seemed happier without the weight of the secret she had been holding for a very long time. Undyne, of course, has been nothing short of the best support Alphys could ask for. Along with the reveal of Mettaton’s EX form, Frisk found out that her aunts were FINALLY together.

(About da…..ng time)

*Geeze Chara, young and impressionable ears over here.*

(Oh whatever, you thought of jokes using curse words.) Frisk gave Chara a raspberry sound effect, and continued with her thoughts;

* But seriously though, finally the OTP is realized!*

Toriel's visits had become more frequent, teaching Frisk and the skeleton brothers how to cook was a popular pastime, other than telling jokes at Papyrus’ expense. Frisk felt that she couldn't be happier, and a part of her wondered if having Toriel around was what having a mom felt like. These thoughts festered for some time, Growing in tandem with the frequency of Toriel’s visits, going from once a week, to three times a week. Frisk would notice things like the way Toriel and her dad talked and looked at each other, wondering when one of them was going to make their move.

(C’mon Frisk, you know by now neither of them care for rushing into things plus….I am not sure if I am fully on board with the idea myself.)

*I mean, I get that, but….whenever I see her and Asgore together, they both just look….sad, hurt. Right now it seems like the best thing they can do is be friends, but….they both wound up hurting each other.*

(You….have a point….but they only made those decisions because of me….If I had not-) 

*No! You were only doing what you thought was right at the time, and you didn't have anyone there to really stop you from making a bad choice, but you were hurt and you wanted to do something about it. Asgore and Tori both made their own decisions, yes they made them in reaction to what you did, but they CHOSE to act the way they did. Dad always told me to think about things hard before choosing to do something. Like me using my reload ability to….I dunno, convince Papy to give me sweets when I know it's almost supper time, and then reload so that I'm not full. I COULD, but dad would be upset because that would be abusing my powers without talking to him first so he wouldn't worry and also using the reload ability to manipulate someone.* 

Chara wasn’t sure what to say to that. She knew Frisk had these ideas, and always wound up talking herself out of it, taking those very things into consideration before she did anything with her abilities. Pranks? Sure just tell him a while beforehand so he doesn't worry. But using it to manipulate others, both Chara and Frisk thought, would not go over well. Chara was quiet for a moment, looking at Frisk before sighing.

(....Yeah. You know, I do like the fact that your dad makes mom happy….I don’t want to think about the pain she’s been put through…)

*Yeah, so let's think about today because I have some new material to try out!*

(Oh, right!)

Today, Frisk knew that Toriel would be around, and it would be the perfect time to drop her new line of puns, chemistry jokes. She'd had found a book in her dad’s room containing many words that Frisk didn't quite understand, though Chara was able to help slightly. The main part she focused on was the periodic table. Whilst chatting with Chara in her room, she heard the door open downstairs and Papyrus’ loud greeting.

“WELCOME LADY TORIEL! SANS GET UP YOU LAZYBONES, YOU’RE TAKING UP THE COUCH!” Frisk giggled as she went downstairs, seeing Sans sitting up and Toriel sitting by him. Toriel turned to Frisk and greeted her with a smile;

“Ah greetings Frisk, your father and I have something we wish to tell you!” 

“Okay, what is it?” Sans chuckled lightly before speaking;

**“ well kiddo, tori and i kinda figured that since we were hanging out so much, we may as well uh….be dating.”** Frisk raised her hands to her mouth with a gasp, an excited look spreading across her face. Toriel smiled and spoke;

“I see you approve, hahaha!” Frisk let out a cheer as she jumped onto the couch space between the two; 

“Woohoo! FINALLY, the OTP has set sail! Oh! I gotta tell auntie Alphys!” Sans held up his hand, catching Frisk’s attention;

**“actually kiddo, maybe you should let us break the news.”** Frisk nodded, opting to celebrate with her new material. Frisk’s smile turned mischievous, she had both them and Papyrus right where she needed them. 

“ I came up with a few new jokes for you all to hear, a good way to celebrate!” Papyrus let out a nyeh of despair while Sans and Toriel looked intrigued;

**“ really? alright let's hear it kiddo, i couldn't think of a better start..”**

“Oh my, this is quite the treat, let us see what you have then!” With a grin, Frisk prepared her onslaught.

“So what do what do you do with a sick chemist? Well if you can't helium, can’t curium, You may as well Barium!” Sans’ eyelights turned into stars, his kid knew chemistry puns now? Kids these days grow up so fast. And as soon as he heard that, one joke of his own came to mind;

**“barium? I barely know him!”** Sans quipped with a wink, causing Toriel to laugh and Papyrus’ eyes to bulge;

“NYO HOO HOO! SANS WHY MUST YOU CORRUPT YOUR DAUGHTER SO?!” Frisk giggled as she continued;

“So I heard oxygen asked sodium out on a date, but he said Na. so oxygen asked potassium and he said OK! Why did oxygen ask sodium? Because he looked sodium fine!” both Sans and Toriel broke into a fit of laughter, the pair began shedding tears;

**“ pffffft ahahahahahahahaha oh my god kid, these are amazing.”** Papyrus gave a sigh of defeat;

“FRISK! THAT WAS VERY…..CLEVER.” Frisk beamed as she made her next round of jokes;

“Ok Ok, here's another one, What did the bartender say when oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, sodium, and phosphorus walked into his bar? OH SNaP! What do you call a clown who's in jail? A silicon!” That set of jokes broke everyone. Toriel was holding her stomach, laughing hard, and Sans reverted to his real laugh;

( CRITICAL HIT!)

“N-NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH WOW, I'LL HAVE TO GIVE THOSE JOKES A PASS, GOOD WORK MY FANTASTIC NIECE!”

**“ mweh heh, mweheheheheheheheh mweh mweheheheheheh oh my god frisk i'm so proud, holy cow.”** Sans said as he wiped blue tears from his eye sockets, and after catching her breath, Toriel was able to look back at Frisk;

“Ahahahahahaha, oh my, Frisk you truly are gifted for these jokes. But how did you find out about chemistry, they cannot be teaching it already, could they?” Frisk responded with a shake of her head; 

“Nope! I found a book in Dad’s room, a lot of the words were hard to understand, but I found the periodic table thing and realized I could make jokes out of them! Even though I couldn't understand all of it, there was some cool stuff in that book.” Sans’ eyes once again turned into little stars as he pulled Frisk onto the couch for a hug;

**“ nice work kiddo, you really got us there.”** Toriel joined in the hug as well. Frisk snuggled into the group hug, with Papyrus coming in as well. 

“You are such a bright child, excellently done!” Frisk giggled at the praise, and the day passed by quickly after that. Over several weeks, Toriel and Sans went on a few dates. Some were at grillby’s, and others Mettaton had seats reserved at his hotel. Once Asgore was informed, he was happy to know that his former wife was able to find happiness, and sent the two a bouquet of flowers in celebration. Alphys, while slightly saddened that her OTP was no longer viable, was glad to see that both Toriel and Sans decided to date. And Frisk looked so happy. Often, Toriel would come over, and at the end of the day, both her and Sans would read to Frisk and Papyrus. On one such night, the duo finished their book, Frisko snuggling into the blankets, and Papyrus snoozing soundly. Toriel ran a hand over Frisk’s head, whispering;

“Good night, my child.” and in the last moments of frisk being between sleep and consciousness, the child responded;

“Night….mom.” Toriel let out a shocked gasp as Sans chuckled, and spoke with a whisper;

**“ heh, wonder how long that's been on her mind.”**

Toriel whispered back as the two were walking out of the room; “Do you….think she truly considers me as her mother?” Sans shrugged;

**“ i mean, she was pretty tired, so it might have slipped, i could tell the kiddo was feelin conflicted about somethin. guess that was it. gotta figure that she’s not sure what to do with those feelings, given that she never got to know her real mom other than as a soul in a jar.”** Toriel nodded;

“I see, perhaps after school lets out tomorrow that could be a conversation the two of you have.” 

**“ yeah, and i may have an idea that might help with that, but we’ll have to see if the kiddo is even ready to open up.”** and with that, the two went to their respective beds. Chara meanwhile, wasn’t surprised at this revelation. These thoughts had been going through her head for a while now. 

 

The morning proceeded as it usually did. Breakfast, morning pun-off, school, and a walk home. On this walk, Chara decided to practice speaking as Frisk when she was in control. The two always practiced this when they were alone, finding it to be a neat trick. What they didn’t know was that Flowey had seen them He watched in confusion. Those eyes….and the way she talked….could it be…? And with that, Flowey had an idea that was sure to work, with this plan, he would become a god. All he needed to do was wait a few more weeks, Frisk’s birthday would be the perfect time to unleash his plan. Eventually, Frisk took back control of her body and entered her home. A sticky note was placed on the door, directing Frisk to her father's room. Frisk went to the room, to see Sans still napping;

“Hi Dad, I'm here.” Sans cracked open an eye socket and sat up;

**“ heya babybones, have a good day at school?”** Frisk nodded

“Yeah, my teachers were surprised at all the science puns I made!” Sans chuckled as he began to fully wake up. Frisk took a seat next to him on the bed;

“So what did you want to talk to me about?” 

**“ well uh, i’ve noticed that you’ve looked conflicted about somethin lately. anything you wanna talk about?”**

Frisk frowned, looking at her feet. It figured he’d notice something was off, Chara gave a ghostly pat on her shoulder;

(You should tell him, you’ve been going in circles about this for weeks now.) With a sigh, Frisk looked at Sans;

“ Yeah….talking might help. I've kinda….been going in circles about it for a while.” Sans nodded, prompting Frisk to continue;

“It's just….having Tori over has always been fun. She’s helped me with anything I’ve needed, and it's been really nice. And when the two of you read to me at night, it feels right, you know? Whenever I visit my mom, I can tell what she’s feeling, but also just, how being around her soul makes me feel. It's the same feeling whenever you and I are having a day together…..and I’ve started feeling that way around Tori too. She’s….like a mom, but….I already have one. Even though she’s not here…..is it bad that I'm starting to think of Tori that way?” As she spoke, tears pricked her eyes. She looked to her father, who pulled her into a hug;

**“ of course not kiddo. if anything, i think your mom would be ecstatic that there's another person that makes you feel that way. someone that can give you what she never got the chance to give you. also, she’d be glad that you have a less lazy parent, heh.”** Frisk couldn't help but giggle. She tightened her hug;

“Maybe…..”

**“ hey, hows about we do somethin special? we could bring tori, and introduce her to your mom. then you can really see what i mean. sound good?”** Frisk nodded, and after calling Asgore, Sans took a shortcut to Toriel’s place. With both Toriel and Frisk in tow, Sans brought them to the throne room, where Asgore stood. 

“Ah, howdy everyone!”; Frisk ran up and hugged Asgore;

“Heya Asgore!” He placed a hand on top of her head and smiled; 

“Howdy little one. I have everything set up.” Frisk nodded as Sans and Toriel approached;

**“ heya asgore.”**

“Greetings Asgore. Oh, since we are face to face, thank you for the flowers, they’re lovely.”

“Of course, I’m glad you enjoyed them.” With that out of the way, the group went to the back room, where stood a single jar containing a floating purple soul. Asgore left the room, and Frisk approached the soul, placing her hand on the glass;

“Hiya momma.” The soul pulsed happily 

“Hehe….there’s someone I want you to meet. You remember me telling you about miss Tori right? Well….she and dad are dating now!” again, the soul pulsed with happiness, prompting Frisk to continue;

“She’s teaching me all sorts of things, and both she and dad read to me before bed sometimes. It’s really nice and…...and she makes me feel the same way I do around you and dad.” Frisk felt the soul pulse with a slight amount of sadness, but overwhelmingly, the feeling of joy prevailed. With a smile, Frisk continued;

“Heh, Dad told me you’d be happy….guess I needed to see for myself. Anyway, here she is!” Frisk removed her hand from the glass and turned to Toriel, indicating that it was her turn to commune with the soul. Toriel stepped up, placing a paw on the glass;

“Greetings Alice, I am Toriel. I only know so much about you, but your child is simply amazing. She’s clever, and kind, even to those that might not fully deserve it.” The soul pulsed with gratitude, and a feeling that only a mother would recognize. The full scope of Alice’s love, her hopes for Frisk to grow strong. These feelings matched the ones Toriel had for Asriel, Chara, and all of the fallen children. In those feelings, was a question, a promise that needed to be kept. Toriel nodded;

“ Of course, I shall always be there to help her grow. It truly is an honor to finally meet you.” Frisk walked up, placing her hand back on the glass before speaking;

“See, told you she’s awesome. Is….is it okay for her to be my mom? I guess you could say she’d be my….MOMster!” The soul brightened, happiness, gratitude, love, and more feelings pulsed through both Toriel and Frisk. Toriel snorted, and the two of them separated from the jar and embraced each other in a hug. 

“I would be honored to be your MOMster, little one.” Frisk snuggled into the hug as Sans approached. Soon, the group was ready to go home after an eventful day.

Flowey had begun preparations for his plan. For this to work, he needed to be able to grab the souls, and the best way to do that would be to convince Papyrus to suggest having the party at Asgore’s castle. Knowing Frisk’s family, they would see no problem with this, even Toriel would be on board at this stage. Just as well, based off of her little trip to the soul room, it could be that she’s considering to talk to the others…..and that would be his perfect time to strike. The chances of this were rather high. After all, she got a taste of communicating with souls. If not, no matter, he’ll find another way to get them. After speaking to Papyrus, the trap was set, and all he had to do was wait for the right moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp, this is it, folks, after this, the chapter I've been looking forward to writing since day one!


	16. Hopes and Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to PaddieFrog for helping with the chapter!

Over the weeks, Papyrus and all the others prepared for Frisk’s 8th birthday. Asgore worked on preparing the throne room, Mettaton handled the entertainment, and both Grillby and Muffet worked on food plans. All of Frisk’s family and friends would be there to give her one heck of a party. The royal guards came in, the dog squad joining the kids in a game of tag. Later on, Gerson even came by, regaling the kids in interesting stories, or at least the stories he could remember. Mettaton, along with Napstablook and Shyren were preparing for a show. Sans and Toriel joked around whilst Undyne and Papyrus got up to their usual antics, overall it was a time filled with laughter and fun. 

Toriel excused herself, opting to begin making the cake while the children laughed and played. It had been so very long since she had heard the sound of laughter echoing through the area. The sounds of children hiding behind pillars in the hall, or rushing up and down the steps burning off all that extra energy. As Toriel entered the kitchen, she noticed a few things on the fridge. Several of Asriel and Chara’s drawings were still present, along with more recent additions. It would seem that over the years, Frisk had added her own drawings to it. The one that caught her eye though was one that looked like it was done in the last year or so. It was a drawing of Frisk, with all of her family standing behind her. 

Floating beside Frisk, was a little purple heart that Toriel took to be Frisk’s human mother, but there was something strange. On the right side of Frisk, appeared to be an outline of someone roughly Frisk’s size, but with no details added aside from a small red heart. Toriel couldn't really tell what this was supposed to be, perhaps she could ask Frisk later. Once she put the cake in the oven, she texted Sans, informing him that she would be staying in the living room reading until the cake was finished. After a quick reply, Toriel smiled, this truly was a day to treasure.

During this time, the kids were laughing as Undyne bench pressed the entire group, everyone, even all the adults. Once she broke her record, she set everyone down and then she had an idea. She walked up to Asgore and tapped him on the shoulder;

“Hey, Asgore!”

“Yes, Undyne?”

“I’ve got an idea to give Frisk one heck of a show! I also figured it would be the perfect time to put Papyrus to the ultimate test! I want you and him to duel to see how well the training is paying off!” Asgore chuckled;

“Oho! You believe he is ready for such a challenge?”

“Are you kidding? I’ve told ya he's tough, and that's coming from ME.”

“Indeed, perhaps you should ask him first.” 

Undyne nodded and rushed over to Papyrus, who was currently being climbed on by several children, including Frisk;

“So, Papyrus. I have a special training idea I’d like you to do!”

“WOWIE, DURING THE PARTY? WHAT ARE WE DOING?” 

“YOU are gonna spar with Asgore! I wanna see how far my training has really gotten you!”

“OH MY, THAT SOUNDS….LIKE A CHALLENGE WORTHY OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS, NYEH HEH HEH! I ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE!” 

Asgore chuckled;

“Very well, Perhaps we should take this to the barrier room? It is a space much more suited for sparring than here. I take it the children would want to observe?” Asgore asked, looking at the children. All of them cheered, rushing to the chamber in question. Mk ran up to Frisk excitedly;

“Yo, this is gonna be so cool! We’re actually gonna see Asgore spar!” 

Frisk grinned. 

“Yeah! And against Pappy! This is gonna be good!” 

Flowey hid off to the side, opting to watch this play out. Papyrus verses Asgore? That was new! It would certainly be fun to watch. After a moment everyone took their places, including Asgore and Papyrus. The king looked towards Papyrus with a smile;

“Well then, shall we begin?”

“ABSOLUTELY YOUR MAJESTY! I SHALL GIVE IT MY ALL!” 

Undyne shouted from the side whilst Alphys took out her phone to record;

“Yeah! That's right, don't hold ANYTHING back! Remember, he can take your more serious techniques!” 

Papyrus nodded and the battle began, a new theme playing this time. It wasn't Asgore's, but it was also one Frisk never heard from Papyrus before. It was strange, more intense, and fitting for a serious sparring match. Asgore maintained his smile as he pulled out his trident, ready for a fight. Papyrus’ eyes glowed bright orange as he summoned his weapon, a bone staff. The two rushed each other, their weapons clashing, sending the both of them back. Papyrus whipped his staff forward, sending massive waves of orange and blue bones Asgore's way. The kids gasped as Asgore dodged as many as he could, getting hit by a few stray white bones before turning his trident into a scythe, swapping between blue and orange to break the attacks. 

“Quite impressive Papyrus, I can see Undyne has taught you well! But, how well can you avoid my attacks I wonder?” Asgore's eyes flashed, alternating between blue and orange, before slicing his scythe left and right. Papyrus was able to dodge these attacks, only to be caught in a hail of fire. Papyrus dodged many of them, deflecting some with his staff, only being signed by a few stray fireballs, taking off very little Hp. 

“NYEH HEH HEH! IF YOU WISH TO BEST ME YOU WILL HAVE TO TRY A LITTLE HARDER THAN THAT!” Papyrus shouted, earning a laugh from Asgore. Of course he would use one of Undyne’s classic lines. Undyne and the children cheered;

“Heck yeah! Fantastic moves Papyrus keep it up!”

“You got this uncle Pappy!” 

“Yooooooooo! Frisk your uncle is so cool! Nyeh heh heh!” Frisk smiled at Mk as Undyne pumped her fist in the air;

“Darn right he is! Kick his butt Papyrus!” Asgore dodged another volley of bones and huffed, summoning circles of flame that enclosed on Papyrus. He moved as much as he could to dodge, only being hit by a few fireballs, and launched his own counterattack;

“NOW FOR MY ULTIMATE BLUE ATTACK! NYEH HEH HEH!” 

Wave upon wave of blue bones flew to Asgore who stood perfectly still, only for his soul to suddenly turn blue, forcing him down as a large dragon-like skull faced him and fired. Asgore leaped over the blast, only for another to fire slightly overhead, hitting him slightly. Asgore couldn't help but smile, of course, Papyrus had that attack. It was the same with his brother, except Papyrus didn’t have the karmic retribution ability. Undyne again shouted from the side, as everyone looked in awe of the Great Papyrus’ capabilities;

“That's right Papyrus, don't you dare hold back!” 

Papyrus was beginning to sweat, and Asgore felt just as he did while training Undyne. The feeling brought with it fond memories, truly Undyne has taught her student well. The two rushed each other again, their weapons clashing in a circle of bones and fire. Papyrus’ foot hit a pressure plate, bringing up the souls, however, everyone was too embroiled in the action to notice. After a few more clashes and attack patterns, Asgore chose to end the battle. He sheathed his trident with a smile;

“Alright, I believe that is enough, well-done Papyrus!”

“NYEH HEH HEH, THANK YOU, YOUR MAJESTY!” 

Asgore walked over to Undyne, placing a paw on her shoulder;

“You have trained him exceptionally well Undyne! I’m so proud of you. And I think Papyrus would make an excellent addition to the Royal guard.” Undyne flashed a big toothy grin as Papyrus gasped;

“WOWIE, REALLY?! NYEH HEH HEH, SANS I DID IT! I'M GOING TO BE A ROYAL GUARD!” Papyrus swept Sans and Frisk up in a hug, eliciting a giggle from Frisk;

**“knew you could do it bro, congrats.”**

“You’re the best uncle Pappy! Nyah hah hah!” Mk ran up to Papyrus. 

“Yo, that was so cool!” Undyne clapped Papyrus on the back;

“Way to go, nerd, you’re officially part of the royal guard, you know what that means!” Undyne wrapped her arms around Papyrus as he cried out; 

“OH NO, THE CONGRATULATORY SUPLEX!” as he was indeed suplexed. Flowey in the shadows rolled his eyes. The fight was amazing, no doubt. He had never seen Papyrus do that before and it was rather refreshing. But the reactions now that it was over were so predictable….and the souls were ripe for the taking. And his moment came when Toriel entered with cake. 

“I hope you two worked up an appetite, I figure this is as good a place as any to eat!”

The rest of the monsters began to file in, with Frisk’s family, including Mettaton and Asgore, stood in front of Frisk to sing happy birthday. Chara floated above them, looking at Frisk with a smile, singing in Frisk’s mind; 

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Friiiisk, happy birthday to youuu!” And just as Frisk blew out the candles, Flowey struck.

“And many more….aaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!” vines wrapped around Frisk’s family, causing Frisk to scream.

“Flowey, what are you doing?!” She shouted, causing Flowey to cackle again;

“You idiots! While you were having your little celebration, I took the human souls! And now the souls of your pathetic little family are mine too, hehehehehe! And you know what the best part is? I couldn't have gotten this far without you! Golly, none of this would have been possible if you and your mother hadn't fallen down here! Oh….I have her soul….can you hear it, Frisk?” 

Flowey’s face contorted into a demonic grin; 

“She’s s c r e a m i n g.” 

Frisk shook with rage, Chara right there with her. She glared at the Flower, considering her next move. Meanwhile, the others were completely trapped, Undyne was the only one who was able to struggle with the vines, but even her strength proved no use. Flowey kept talking; 

“And now with their souls and the humans’ together, I WILL ACHIEVE MY REAL FORM!” 

Frisk shouted at the flower, tears running down her face;

“Why are you even doing this?!” 

“Golly, you don’t get it, do you? This is all just a game! If you leave the underground, you ‘win’ the game! And we all know that at some point, you would find a way. If you leave, then who can I use for entertainment? But now I control the timeline! Or I will control it… once I deal with you! But hey, i'm a fair person! If you do win, I’ll bring your friends back, and destroy the barrier! Everyone will get their ‘happy ending’! But that WON’T happen! I’ll keep you here no matter what! Even if I have to kill you a million times!”

Several circles of pellets surrounded Frisk, and closed in on her, leaving her at one HP. Frisk screamed in pain, her soul hurt, more tears fell from her eyes. She couldn't die, not here….not now! A final volley of pellets loomed in on her, only for a circle of flames to appear and cause them to disperse. Flowey frowned in disbelief;

“What?!” 

Then from the vine holding Frisk’s family, Toriel spoke, her voice labored and tired, but very clear.

“Do not be afraid, my child. No matter what happens, we will always be there to protect you!” Frisk felt her HP start to rise a little as Flowey threw another 3 volleys of pellets, only for them to be blocked by two bones and a spear. 

“Hey punk, kick this flowers butt already! You got this!”

**“ hey kiddo you haven't beaten this thing yet? c’mon this weirdo’s got nothin on you.”**

“THAT’S RIGHT FRISK, YOU CAN WIN! JUST DO WHAT I WOULD DO! BELIEVE IN YOU!”

Frisk’s hp went up again by 3 as she was fueled by her family. Another two volleys, blocked by a wall of electricity and fire. Alphys and Asgore’s voices reaching Frisk.

“T-Technically it's impossible for you t-to beat him, but I know you’ll do it anyway! Y-You can do anything when you set your mind to it!”

“Frisk, you are the hope of the underground, stay determined, and you will prevail!” Her hp rose once more as monsters began surrounding her, boosting her HP back to max, 

“We’re here with you!”

“You have to win!”

“La la la…” 

“DON TOUCH DE CHILD!”

“Yo, Kick his butt Frisk!” 

Flowey moved to the side as monsters filed in, all to protect Frisk. Flowey had his opportunity.

“No….No! you….you!.....You idiots! I can’t believe you’re all so STUPID! ALL OF YOUR SOULS ARE MINE!” 

(No!) 

The world faded into white, and then darkness, with a strange new monster standing with his back to them. Chara seemed to recognize the figure,

(No….it….it can't be….) The monster turned to Frisk;

“Finally, I was so tired of being a flower. I know who you are Frisk, but Chara’s with you too, isn’t she? Chara? Are you there? It's me, you’re best….friend….”

“ASRIEL DREEMURR!”

Suddenly, a fully grown version of Asriel appeared, causing Chara to gasp. Music came on and the background changed, Chara felt excited.

(This is…. like the terrible OC that he made… Screw it let's embrace this!)

*Wait what?*

(Check him!)

*ACT *CHECK:

(ASRIEL DREEMURR, the absolute GOD of hyperdeath, yes that's his totally original OC, do not steal.)

*Ok I'd actually be laughing if he wasn't currently trying to kill us, speaking of which, HOLY COW!!* 

Frisk did her best to dodge the stars, only to get hit by several of them.

(Asriel is charging 'shocker breaker') 

Frisk chose to hold on to her hopes, bolstering her defense.

"You know… I don't even care about destroying this world anymore….because after I destroy it all and gain control of the timeline.., i'm just gonna RESET everything!" 

Next came a lightning attack, Which managed to kill Frisk, she felt like she was going to shatter.

(Frisk!)

*N-No...I won’t die here...not now...we’re too close...I...I REFUSE!* 

Through the power of sheer determination, Frisk’s soul fused back together, with Frisk at full health. 

(Holy crap, nice save Frisk.)

*Looks like I’m able to not die, let's do this.* 

Asriel continued his speech;

"All of your progress...everyone's memories? I'LL BRING IT ALL DOWN TO ZERO!" This time she had to dodge blades, once again feeling her soul sliced in half, only to refuse.

*ACT *HOPE

"Then we can do everything all over again!"

*He sounds lonely…..* 

Another star blazing and more attacks followed becoming more and more powerful over time. A few breaks and healing turns passed as Asriel kept monologuing.

"And the best part? You'll do it! You'll lose to me over and over and over! Because you want your happy ending because you “love your friends!” Because you NEVER give up… isn't that delicious? Your determination, the power that got you this far, is going to be your downfall!" 

Frisk took hit after hit, heal after heal, she held on to her hopes. Finally, Asriel had enough and began a new attack called hyper goner.

*Man he inherited Asgore’s naming capabilities.*

(Oh trust me, I know.)

"ENOUGH, i'm only using a fraction of my real power, let's see how good your determination is against this!" 

Suddenly a white light enveloped her, heat searing every inch of her body as she was struck with numerous blows bringing her to 1Hp again. A different form of Asriel was revealed, with wings and spikes and no legs. Frisk could not move, all she could do was struggle as one of Asriel's attacks killed her yet again.

"Ura ha ha, behold my true power…I can feel it you know...every time you die, your friends forget you a little more. Soon you will die alone, in a world where nobody remembers you." 

Rather than be discouraged, it encouraged Frisk even more to live. She survived the next attack with only some injury.

"Still, you're hanging on? That's fine, in a few moments, you'll forget everything too, that attitude will serve you well in the next life. But for now, come, show me what good your determination is now!"

(Gotta keep at it… stay determined.)

But Frisk could not move.

(You try to reach the save file, but nothing happened, it seems as if SAVING is not going to work… but I have an idea. What if we save something else with what power we have left? Your family is inside of Asriel, right? Call out to them! Make them hear you! SAVE them!)

Frisk gasped as her act button changed, into a save button that lead to her friends. She pressed the option for Papyrus, calling out his name, causing a lost soul to appear.

"I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN…." 

As she dodged a round of bone attacks, Frisk surmised that this was before she ever fell into the underground. His voice was full of emotion, and she knew how to save him.

"Hey uncle papy, could you cook me some of your pasta?"

(For some reason, the lost soul feels like he really wants to… keep going!)

"THEN EVERYONE WILL…." 

Frisk dodged a few simple attacks and hit her next option.

"I need some help with a puzzle please!"

(Hearing your voice, he remembers you, and now the memories are flooding back!)

"WHAT, NO! YOU'RE MY NIECE! I COULD NEVER CAPTURE YOU!" 

Frisk faded back to her menu, feeling Papyrus’ encouragement pulsing from inside Asriel. Next, she pressed the option taking her to her father. Sans stood in front of her, his face covered in a fog. But falling from his cheekbones… were tears?

 **“just give up….i did…”**

No attack came, and Frisk’s heart sank. The way he spoke… he had never sounded like that before. Defeated, hopeless… was this really her dad? She called out to him;

“Hey dad, let’s take a break, you seem tired!”

(He doesn't know why, but he really wants to.)

**“ why even try…”**

Frisk frowned, she tried to snap him out of it with a joke;

“Hey dad, what did one cell say to his sister after she stepped on his toe? Mitosis!” 

(He feels extremely proud, but he doesn't know why.)

**“in the end, it’s all gonna be reset….none of this matters.”**

Tears came to her eyes. This is what he was like before she fell. How long had he been that way? Frisk clenched her fist, selecting a new option.

*ACT *Promise 

“Dad, you’re never going to have to worry about the resets ever again. We’re gonna get to the surface and stay there, I promise!”

(The memories come flooding back, and he believes you with all his heart!) 

The fog cleared from Sans’ face as he shook his head;

**“nah, you got this babybones. show this guy what you got.”**

The phase ended, and she could feel the skeleton brothers cheering her on. Her next target was Alphys. Her aunt’s face was covered by a fog, and Frisk knew what to expect. 

“You hate me….don’t you?” 

She had the same defeated tone that her dad did. Frisk was determined to set things right, and After dodging the attack, Frisk called out to her.

(She’s starting to sweat, but doesn't know why.)

“I have to keep lying….all I do is hurt people…” 

After another round of attacks, Frisk asked Alphys what her favorite anime was.

(She’s holding back a long answer)

“It would be better if I just….disappeared…” 

It hurt to hear her aunt talk like that. All Frisk had seen of her aunt was her putting up a smile, even if it seemed forced at times, there was a part of it that was genuine. As though her visits were helping. 

“Aunty Alphys, you’re awesome! You’ve always helped me when dad and the others were busy! You were always there for me, and i'm not going to leave you!” 

(The surety of your voice sounds familiar to her, and the memories come flooding back!)

“-No...my friends like me… And I love you too, Frisk!” 

The phase ended, and next was Undyne.

“All humans will die!” Undyne’s voice echoed as a flurry of spears rushed towards Frisk with murderous intent. 

This scared Frisk, she had never seen that side of her aunt. Of course, she wouldn't feel that way about a baby but… Frisk chose to clash against Undyne.

(Something about your fighting spirit is familiar to her.) 

“You’re our real enemy!” 

Once again, Frisk blocked the spears with a wide toothy grin, the way she always smiled. 

(She doesn't know why, but she wants to smile back…) 

“You’re in the way of our hopes and dreams!” 

Frisk clashed with Undyne again after another volley of spears.

(With That final clash the memories came flooding back!)

“Wait no! You’re awesome punk! I bet the other humans are just as cool!”

Frisk smiled, all that remained was Toriel and Asgore. Frisk began with Toriel;

“This is for your own good…” 

Frisk dodged a wave of fire and hugged Toriel. 

(She really wants to return the hug but does not know why.) 

“No one will leave again….” 

Frisk sighed, all the children she had to watch, one by one leaving her to meet their fate. Frisk chose to talk;

“I'm going to have to go if i'm gonna free everyone.” 

(Something is stirring within her) 

Toriel remained silent as another wave of fire rushed towards Frisk. In return, Frisk took Toriel’s hand and smiled.

“C’mon momma, let's go.”

(Hearing you call her mom causes memories to come flooding back!) 

Toriel blinked and looked down at Frisk with a smile; 

“Your fate is up to you, my child. It always has been.” The encounter ended, and all that was left was Asgore. His voice came soft, full of regret;

“Please, forgive me for this.” 

Frisk dodged fire attacks similar to Toriel’s and chose to hug him. 

(Something about this feels familiar to him…) 

Asgore spoke again whilst launching his next attack;

“This is my duty….” 

Frisk dodged, and chose to talk;

“C’mon Asgore, we still have to take care of the garden!” 

( He really wants to, but he doesn't know why…) 

Asgore said nothing, sending more fire Frisk’s way. After she dodged, she chose to talk again;

“Oh, or you can tell me more stories about you training aunty Undyne! I really like those!” 

( the excitement in your voice brings back memories, it all comes back to him!)

“You are our future!” 

The encounter ended, but Frisk felt something strange. There was another soul inside Asriel. It wasn’t a monster, but it was calling to her. Frisk went to the mystery soul, to find a purple woman. She was much taller than Frisk but clearly human. Frisk noticed that their eyes were the same, and the dots connected in her mind.

“M-Mom?” 

Alice nodded;

“That’s right Frisk… my how you’ve grown!” 

Frisk ran up to hug her with tears in her eyes, Alice quickly returning the favor while speaking;

“I am so proud of you. You have become such an amazing child….” 

Frisk hugged tighter, not wanting to let go, Alice ran her hand over Frisk’s hair with a smile;

“Your family down here loves you so much… I am so grateful that they have given you such a full life.” 

Frisk looked up at her, tears still streaming down her face as Chara floated off to the side;

“Mom….I…I wish I could have gotten to know you too….” 

“I know sweetheart, but I will always be with you, not even death will keep me from watching you grow.” 

The surroundings vibrated, causing the woman to sigh. 

“It appears our time is almost up little one, I love you, so much. And your monster family holds as much love for you in their souls as I do.” 

Alice turned to look at Chara, causing the child to go wide-eyed in shock;

“Oh, and Chara… thank you for watching over Frisk. You’re such a wonderful big sister.”

(Uh...n-no problem….) 

Alice turned back to her crying child;

“M-Mom…” 

Alice knelt to Frisk’s level, with a hand on her shoulder;

“It is almost time Frisk… I know that you will do many great things. You must go, you have a kingdom to save!” 

A burst of determination flowed through Frisk. She looked her mother dead in the eyes, showing Alice her classic determined stare. As the last few tears fell, Frisk nodded;

“Okay… goodbye, mom… I love you...” 

“I love you too sweetheart, and I always will.” Frisk’s mother then faded, Asriel coming back into view. 

(I know that was a lot for you Frisk, but we need to finish this. With your family remembering you, notice anything? There's a feeling coming from Asriel, and it's getting stronger. You know who we have to save next.) 

Frisk nodded, and posed an idea to Chara;

*Do you want to do it? He is your brother after all…* 

Chara looked towards Asriel and felt her own determination growing. Chara nodded and Frisk relinquished control. Frisk floated to the side as Chara held out her hand, and called Asriel's name, letting her memories flood the word. Chara and Asriel making every echo flower in waterfall say 'butts', their games of tag and hide and seek, eating their mother's butterscotch pie, all memories holding special moments between the two.

"Huh?! What are you doing? What did you do? What is this feeling… what's happening?! no….NO! I DON'T NEED ANYONE!" 

A large torrent of energy ripped through Chara, badly damaging her. Frisk decided to take charge and handle the work from there. 

*You got your part Chara, I’ll handle the attacks, ok?* Chara nodded as Frisk hit the save button. 

"No...STOP IT…..GET AWAY FROM ME! Do you hear me?! I'LL TEAR YOU APART!" 

Another torrent, but they all missed. 

"Chara…...do you know why i'm doing this, Chara? Why do I keep fighting to keep you around? I'm… I'm doing this because you're special, Chara… You're the only one that understands me. You're the only one who's any fun to play with anymore."

(Azzy…..)

"No...that's not JUST it… i'm doing this because I care about you Chara! I care about you more than anybody else! I…..I...I'M NOT READY FOR THIS TO END! I'm not ready for you to leave me again….So please….stop this….AND JUST LET ME WIN!" 

Asriel raised his arms and shot out a cone of rainbow light that enveloped Frisk, her Hp fading down to decimals as she used every fiber of her being to hold on.

0.5

"Stop it."

0.25

"STOP IT!"

0.0001

"STOP IT NOW!" 

0.000000001, Frisk was barely holding on, when Asriel finally relented, all that was left was her SAVE option.

"Chara… I'm so alone… Chara. I'm… so afraid… I… I…" The world faded to white and black again as the being before he returned to his child form, Asriel Dreemurr stood before her, with tears in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry…." 

Frisk panted as the child returned to normal and looked back at her. This was the real Asriel. Not some soulless abomination, just a scared child that had been through way too much. 

“I….I was always a crybaby...wasn’t I, Chara?... Frisk, was it just my imagination? Y-Your eyes turned red and I...I thought maybe…” 

Frisk smiled and nodded;

“Yup, she’s right here. We met in the Ruins. She’s an awesome big sister.” 

Asriel sniffed, tears streaming down his face.

“I-I… I’m so sorry Frisk… all the things I did… there’s no excuse for it. To you...to everyone…” 

Frisk let Chara take over, causing Frisk’s eyes to run red, her voice echoing with Frisk’s.

“Oh shut up before you make me start crying too.” 

Chara moved to hug Asriel. He returned with a tight hug of his own, crying into Frisk/Chara’s shoulder. As they separated Frisk took back control, and Asriel began to speak once more.

“Frisk… As a flower, I had no soul… I couldn't feel anything. Not even for my parents, I was just… empty… but that’s no excuse, I knew what I was doing…” 

Frisk smiled;

“It’s okay… I forgive you…”

“Frisk, you’re gonna make me cry again… but anyway, with all of these souls, I feel like me again. And I can feel what they feel. A lot of these monsters have known you for a long time… they all love you so much. But there's one thing I have to do before I release everyone. I can feel all of them shouting in sync, ready for one thing, our freedom.”

Asriel spread out his hands, the souls flying everywhere, a large white blast moving towards the barrier and shattering it. The souls scattered, and all that was left was Asriel. 

“You’ll finally get to see the surface, as will everyone else. Frisk… I have to go now… without those souls, I'll turn back into a flower. I'll stop being… me. Do me a favor… it's best you just forget about me… ok?"

(WHAT? NO!)

"Just go be with the people who love you. I know you’ll do great out there, and Frisk? Please take care of mom and dad for me, Ok?”

”Frisk nodded as Asriel walked away, leaving Frisk to float in darkness. Eventually, voices could be heard, most prominently Toriel’s.

“Frisk, please wake up! It is just a bad dream, please, wake up!” 

Frisk felt herself jolt back to the waking world, laying on the floor with her family surrounding her. Toriel let out a sigh of relief;

“Oh thank goodness, you are awake!” 

Alphys wrung her hands, offering Frisk a smile;

“W-We were so worried! It f-felt like you were asleep forever!” 

Undyne walked over, lightly bopping Frisk on the head;

“Any longer and I would have freaked out! Warn someone before you pass out like that punk!”

Frisk giggled as her father spoke next;

**“yeah kiddo, you made papyrus cry like a baby.”**

Papyrus responded with a stamp of his foot;

“WHAT? PREPOSTEROUS! I DIDN’T CRY! I DON'T CRY! I….JUST GOT SOMETHING IN MY EYE...”

**“ oh? what was it?”**

Papyrus’ eyes bulged out in their cartoonish fashion;

“IT WAS TEARS!” 

Frisk snorted and laughed, a smile spreading across her face. Toriel walked over to Frisk, and placed a paw on her shoulder;

“Everyone else has gone to their homes to prepare for the surface. With the barrier broken, we will all be able to see the surface. However, perhaps you should take a walk around, it may be some time before you see this place again.” 

“ WE CAN WAIT HERE UNTIL YOU RETURN, PERHAPS YOU WOULD WANT TO FIND A KEEPSAKE OF SOME SORT!” 

Frisk nodded as the others turned to each other, chatting excitedly. Frisk walked through the garden and into the judgment hall, where a purple heart was floating.

“M-Mom?!” Frisk asked, confused as she could have sworn Asriel set them free. The soul floated to Frisk, circling around her, motioning in a direction. Chara tilted her head;

(I think she wants you to follow her Frisk…)

*Where to though?* the only way to find out was to follow the directions her mom pointed to. As they walked through the Underground, Frisk and Chara held their own conversation;

(So this is it, we’re going to see the surface, for you it’ll be the first time, just as much as any monster down here.)

*Yeah...looks like it. It’s...weird. I can’t really imagine a place other than the Underground, I want to stop by momma’s grave real quick…* 

Frisk did so as she went through Waterfall. The echo flowers and sign were still there and Frisk smiled, looking down at her mother’s soul.

“This is where they buried you, pretty, huh?” 

Alice chimed happily in agreement. Frisk pressed on through Snowdin;

(Do you think you’ll find your human dad?)

*I...don’t know. From what I do know, momma was really nice and if my human dad is the same way….well, I really hope he is. But even though I want to meet him, I don’t want to leave my dad, you know?* 

Chara nodded

(Yeah, makes sense.)

The soul guided Frisk through the Ruins, in the direction of the flower patch;

*Why is mom taking us all the way back here?* Frisk thought as she neared to room.

(Huh, there must be a- he’s still here!) Chara shouted excitedly as Frisk noticed what she was talking about. 

Near the bed of flowers stood Asriel, his attention grabbed by the sound of Frisk’s footsteps. 

“Frisk? What are you still doing down here? The barrier’s broken, you’re able to see the surface…” 

“Well, I guess I know why momma brought me here, Asriel you’re coming with us!” 

Chara looked at Frisk as the thoughts had entered her mind;

(Wait, Frisk, you think that will work?!)

*It’s worth a shot, besides I think this is what mom wanted to do over here.* 

Asriel stepped back in surprise; 

“W-What? Frisk, I can’t go back. Eventually, I’ll just become Flowey again...I won’t be ME anymore.” 

But Frisk only smiled, holding out her mother’s soul;

“I know, you can't be you without a soul, right? Well, my mom decided to stick around, she brought Chara and I over here.“ 

“Frisk, I can’t take her soul… she deserves to move on… and with all, I’ve done...” 

(...Frisk, please let me take over.)

*You got it, sis.* Frisk’s eyes turned red, tears starting to form among them as Chara shouted;

“What you’ve done? Azzy, you’re just a kid! We’re all just kids! Of course, you went crazy, who wouldn't when their soul goes missing? If anything all the bad stuff that’s happened is my fault! From you dying to dad making such a horrible choice, Everything! If I had listened to you...none of this would have been an issue.” 

Asriel’s eyes began to fill with tears as well;

“C-Chara….”

“ I messed up but i'm getting a THIRD chance by being connected to Frisk, why the hell shouldn't you get a second chance?” 

Alice’s soul pulsed, comforting emotions filling the room, in an attempt to calm the children down. At this point, both siblings were locked in a hug. After separating, Frisk’s eyes returned to brown as she spoke; 

“Our mom and my dad took care of me my whole life, momma just wants to return the favor. C’mon Asriel, let's go home, I know a shortcut” Frisk said with a wink, holding out her hand.

Alice’s soul floated gently above her hand expectantly. Asriel stared at the soul for a few moments before taking the soul into his paws;

“I-I… don’t know what to say… but I would like to see mom and dad again.” 

Asriel brought the soul to his chest, and the fusion took hold. Asriel remained his usual childlike self, However, he noticed new memories coming to him. Frisk as a newborn, a man with hazel eyes and dark hair, and then a voice;

“Your parents are waiting for you Asriel, go to them.” 

Frisk stared at Asriel as his gaze drifted, she gave him a poke;

“Earth to Asriel, did it work?” 

Asriel’s attention turned back to Frisk.

“Y-Yeah. Frisk… your human mom loves you a lot .let's get out of here, I want to see their faces when we all see the sun! But uh Frisk? You can’t teleport, how do you have a shortcut?” 

With a smirk, Frisk pulled out her phone, and Chara took over;

“By calling her dad on his cell-BONE” 

The joke caused Asriel to facepalm;

“Chara….why are you like this?”

“Your mom.” 

Frisk was laughing as she came back in control while Asriel sighed;

“Don’t worry, my dad will get us back to everyone, we got some ‘splainin to do.” 

Frisk began texting;

“Hey dad, could you shortcut me back to the room? Got something that you’re all gonna want to see. Prepare for a surprise.”

**“k. where u at?”**

“At the end of the Ruins, wanted to make sure everyone knew the barrier was broken.”

**“omw.”**

Sans thought nothing of it when he teleported to Frisk’s location, only to be dumbfounded by the sight in front of him. Standing next to his kid… no… that couldn't be... Frisk saw the surprise on her dad’s face and spoke quickly;

“Yeah, he’s really here, there's a long story for how. “ 

Asriel felt his stomach drop when he saw Sans. of all the people he hurt, he had hurt Sans the most, if it wasn’t for Frisk… Sans’ voice pulled Asriel from his thoughts;

 **“ooookay then, i take it you’d rather not explain it twice huh? a’ight, let's go kiddos.”**

Frisk grabbed Asriel’s hand with her left and Sans’ with her right. Sans had teleported them to just outside the chamber. They walked in and the group turned to Sans and the ...children? Toriel and Asgore’s eyes went wide, both fearing they had gone mad, but Undyne’s muttered “No way…” along with the stunned silence of the others told them that this was real. Both of their voices trembled and their eyes stung as tears welled within them; 

“Asriel…?”

“Are you… you’re… alive?” 

Asriel stepped forward and nodded “Y-Yeah...I'm back.” neither of the boss monsters gave it a second thought, rushing in to give their child a hug for all they were worth. They could feel him, he was...real. He was really alive. Toriel looked up at Frisk.

“B-But how? My child, how is this possible?” 

Frisk scratched the back of her head, ready to tell one heck of a tale;

“Well, it’s a long story...I figure the best place to start would be the beginning-” Frisk proceeded to tell them of Flowey and his origins. She told them of his existence as a soulless entity, losing himself over time. Frisk told them what happened after the bright light, everything from the lost souls, to her mother, to saving Asriel himself;

“Then he used everyone’s power to break the barrier and set everyone free. Without the souls, He couldn't keep his form. But when you guys sent me out for a walk, my mom was still floating in the hall! She lead us to where Asriel was, all the way at the end of the Ruins. She made it so Asriel could keep his form.” 

Undyne’s eye widened as she spoke;

“Woah, that's hardcore..” 

Alphys was having trouble finding words, however, Papyrus was able to find his own;

“WOWIE! SO I WAS FRIENDS WITH A TINY ASGORE CLONE THIS WHOLE TIME? I DIDN’T KNOW I WAS SO POPULAR!”  
Asriel laughed;

“Well of course! you’re the best Papyrus! Ura ha ha!”

“NYEH HEH HEH!” 

Chara facepalmed with a smile on her face;

(Oh boy, we’re in for it now.) 

Alphys looked up at Asriel worried;

“S-So… i-it's my fault… that you wound up like that. I-I'm sorry… I didn't know I-” 

Asriel turned and smiled;

“Sorry? Alphys if you didn’t do what you did we’d all be stuck down here still! I mean yeah, it su...stunk” 

Asriel had caught a glimpse of the side eye Toriel was giving him. Truly some things never changed;

“But in the end, we’re all about to finally achieve our goal! You helped save everyone!” 

Undyne picked Alphys up smiling triumphantly, prompting Alphys to blush;

“Heck yeah, she did!” 

Toriel walked over and knelt before Frisk;

“Well then, my child, shall we be off?”

Frisk looked at the exit, it was time. Chara floated in front of it smiling at Frisk;

(Well? Shall we get going?) 

And with a nod Frisk replied; 

“ Yeah, I'm ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh, the surface eh? Wonder how Frank's been doing all these years. Let's find out, shall we? ;)


End file.
